EBN- Fireworks have long been an indispensable part of various celebrations including national occasions, however the joy of these fireworks with their bright sounds and explosions can turn into a tragic tragedy.
This happens all the time, both in the past and in the present. For example, on December 20, 2016, an explosion occurred in a fireworks store in the northern part of the Mexican capital, killing 35 people and injuring 59 others.
On a second occasion in Mexico in 2018, 8 people were killed near the capital Mexico City. During a religious procession in a church, participants in the celebration of St. Mary’s Day brought fireworks and placed them in front of the church. Suddenly and without warning, the fireworks exploded, leaving behind this number of victims and injuring more than fifty others.
Mexico experienced a third similar tragedy in March 2013. That time, a truck carrying fireworks exploded during a religious procession in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. One of the fireworks rockets accidentally landed on an awning under which a dangerous cargo was hidden. The explosion killed 15 people and left 154 others disabled or injured.
The 2013 tragedy
A tragedy of this kind occurred in the United States in 2013 during the celebration of its Independence Day in Simi Valley, California. The city’s residents went out to celebrate this national occasion, and while everyone was eagerly watching the fireworks and the bright images they painted in the sky, one of the projectiles suddenly exploded, causing serious injuries to 36 people, including 12 children, with burns and lacerations.
A major fireworks tragedy has struck the city of Enschede, in eastern Holland. Two huge explosions occurred in a warehouse of a Dutch fireworks company, followed by a massive fire that killed 23 people, including four firefighters, and injured about a thousand others. The explosion and the fire that followed also destroyed about 400 homes.
These huge human and material losses are due to the enormous force of the explosions. One of the explosions was estimated to have had a force equivalent to 5,000 kilograms of TNT.
The oldest known fireworks incident occurred in 18th century France. During the wedding celebration of Marie Antoinette and the Dauphin, heir to the French throne at the time and later known as King Louis XVI, a large fireworks display was prepared by the Rogerier brothers. The fireworks caused accidental events that led to a major tragedy at the royal wedding.
History of fireworks
In his history of Paris, historian Henry Sutherland describes what happened: “All was going well, when suddenly a gust of wind swept through the crowd, and several rockets exploded only partially. Fireworks, like many inventions of Italian origin, were still relatively new to most of the French public, and the discomfort and even fear of the danger of flaming projectiles falling among the thousands of excited and crowded spectators, was enough to explain the terrible confusion that led to several hundred fatal accidents.” Panic spread among the crowd, and large numbers rushed into the narrow Rue Royale, and those who fell were trampled.
The authorities at the time reported that 133 people were killed, but historian Sutherland believes the number of victims was much higher, exceeding 1,200. He notes that one family had no survivors.
That old incident left its marks for years on the bodies of a number of Parisians who were at that wedding and were unfortunately trampled on in various parts of their bodies by the crowds frightened by the explosion of fireworks.
