Although for many of us fireworks only become relevant around Bonfire Night, or we maybe see fireworks a couple of times a year at a wedding or another celebratory event, we often don’t realise just how often fireworks are featured in the news.
Unfortunately, when news stories related to fireworks are reported they are not always of a celebratory nature, with fireworks accidents and tragedies causing great debates around fireworks in general as well as specific types of fireworks.
Here are the fireworks in the news stories that have got people talking so far in 2016.
Happy New Year
Is there any other place we could really begin? New Year celebrations around the world are famous for their fireworks, with the world’s capitals and other major cities always trying to outdo each other with the biggest and best displays.
Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, and the London Eye are just three of the world’s iconic structures that are at the heart of the New Year celebrations that many of us attend and that millions more check out on television across the New Year holiday.
The below video features this year’s BBC’s coverage of London’s New Year fireworks.
Tragedy Strikes in India
In the early hours of Sunday 10th April, over 100 people were killed and over 400 were injured as a fireworks accident, leading to a subsequent fire, tore through a Hindu temple during a local New Year event in the state of Kerala. What made the event even more shocking was that it should never have even taken place; a permit had been refused on safety grounds.
The fireworks had been stored in preparation for a later celebration during a temple festival.
Why Do Fireworks Attract Idiots?
One of the biggest problems that fireworks have is that, like alcohol and various other carefully controlled products, they can quickly turn from a source of pleasure to a huge danger once placed in the hands of idiots.
Why do fireworks attract idiots? To be honest, we probably can’t answer without lurching into language that wouldn’t be suitable for publication, but suffice to say when some of these people get fireworks in their hands they must feel as if they’re invincible.
The latest sad incident happened in Scotland in late March 2016, when a rocket was forced through a family’s letterbox causing an explosion and filling the house with smoke.
Weeks later a video, which we are not showing or linking to, showed thugs in Mexico shockingly lighting fireworks that had been attached to a dog. The dog burned to death.
Manchester City Get Carried Away
There are several ways to celebrate the football team you support breaking new ground, but for Manchester City supporters looking to mark their team’s first passage to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, setting off fireworks inside the stadium probably wasn’t the wisest move. The club have been charged under UEFA’s disciplinary regulations.
Where have you seen fireworks in the news in 2016? If there are any stories that we have missed or that you’d like us to cover, get in touch and let us know.