Serious accidents and crimes involving fireworks and attacks on emergency services overshadowed New Year’s Eve in Germany. A 17-year-old in Leipzig was injured so badly when using pyrotechnics that he died in the hospital, the police said. As a reaction to attacks against emergency services around the turn of the year and to several serious firecracker accidents, a general ban on fireworks in the hands of private individuals is being discussed again.
Lost both arms by firecrackers
In Thuringia, two men were seriously injured by fireworks on New Year’s Eve. A 42-year-old was so badly injured in Gotha when handling firecrackers ordered online that both forearms had to be amputated, the police said. In Schleiz, a 21-year-old lost his hand in an accident involving an explosive device. The illegal ball bomb exploded as soon as it was ignited.
In Hanover, a 46-year-old man had to be operated on overnight. He had put a firecracker in a metal case, from which parts were blown out in the explosion. A man from Weißenfels in Saxony-Anhalt sustained serious injuries. He “blew off his left hand completely, there was nothing left to save,” said Cord Corterier from the special clinic for hand surgery in Halle. In an accident involving fireworks, a man in Jülich lost two fingers on New Year’s Eve. According to the police, the 27-year-old had glued several approved firecrackers together.
Six-year-old injured in the head
In Zeil am Main, a six-year-old was injured in the head by a fireworks rocket. According to the police, unknown persons fired pyrotechnics improperly, so that one of the rockets flew towards a group of people in which the six-year-old boy was and hit him in the head. The boy suffered minor burns and abrasions on his forehead. The boy was handed over to his parents after treatment by the emergency doctor who arrived.
Dog in panic – child bitten in the face
In Munich, the police had to move out 550 times during the night. The fire department also spoke of one very busy New Year’s Eve. There were several house fires. In Tacherting, Upper Bavaria, a barn was set on fire by a rocket. In Erlangen, in central Franconia, a panicked dog bit a ten-year-old. The child suffered serious facial injuries and was taken to the hospital.
Burning cars in the Upper Palatinate
In Lohberg in the Cham district, unknown persons blew up a power distribution box for the local street lighting with firecrackers. Several parked cars burned in the Burgweinting district of Regensburg late on New Year’s Eve. Four vehicles were completely destroyed and three other cars were severely damaged by the heat.
Mob attacks police and fire brigade in Berlin with pyrotechnics
In Berlin, police officers and firefighters were “massively attacked with firecrackers” when extinguishing a burning car, the police tweeted. According to the police, 60 to 80 people tried to light a vehicle with fireworks in the Lichtenrade district. Also in Berlin, the windows of a shop were “blown away”. Colleagues were “literally under fire,” the police tweeted.
The fire brigade in the capital reported a total of more than 1,700 missions, almost 700 more than a year ago during the corona restrictions. According to this, 22 people were injured by firecrackers and rockets. In 38 cases, emergency services were attacked, one of the injured rescuers had to go to the hospital. “There is no justification for this behavior and I can only condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” said state fire director Karsten Homrighausen. “Even experienced emergency services were shocked by the aggressiveness and willingness to use violence by groups, some of whom were masked,” the fire department tweeted.
Fine dust pollution in Munich increased almost tenfold
Particulate matter pollution in German cities also increased sharply during New Year’s Eve. According to the measurements, it was worst in Munich. The fine dust value increased by 911 percent. In Berlin (Frankfurter Allee) the maximum hourly value increased by 205 percent compared to the previous year (to 302 µg/m³). In Frankfurt (Höchst) the increase was 382 percent (to 250.5 µg/m³), in Bremen Dobben 415 percent (to 237 µg/m³).
Particulate matter in the air we breathe leads to serious health consequences, such as lung and cardiovascular diseases, and is responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths every year in Germany.
Environmental aid makes Interior Minister personally responsible
“Our fears were exceeded by reality,” said the managing director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Jürgen Resch, on Sunday, according to the announcement. He was stunned that even the death of a 17-year-old did not lead to immediate reactions from the responsible federal politicians.
“Despite our warnings and despite a clear majority of people for an absolute ban on firecrackers, Federal Interior Minister Faeser is responsible for the terrible consequences of that night,” said Resch. Germany had experienced “aggressiveness in an unprecedented form”. “It’s a minority that takes advantage of New Year’s Eve and uses pyrotechnics to terrorize the vast majority.”
Police union calls for a ban on firecrackers
As a reaction to the attacks with firecrackers and rockets on police officers and firefighters, the Berlin police union is also demanding that a far-reaching ban on firecrackers be taken seriously. “We have seen across Germany that pyrotechnics are being used specifically as a weapon against people,” criticized GdP country chief Stephan Weh. This must come to an end.
Union and FDP want to keep it cracking
Union and FDP politicians opposed a general ban on firecrackers. “The attacks on the police, fire brigade and rescue workers on New Year’s Eve are downright absurd and despicable,” said the first parliamentary manager of the Union faction in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei (CDU), the “Rheinische Post”.
However, the behavior of criminals should not mean “that the many peaceful revelers should also be subject to a general ban on fireworks”. Municipalities already have the option of imposing a ban on fireworks in certain places and at certain times: “That’s reasonable.”
