fireworks

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Guy Shoots Firework Off Own Head, Dies

Yes, alcohol was involved

(Newser) - The combination of drunk Americans and pyrotechnics often proves tragic and fatal on the nation's birthday, and this year's Fourth of July was no exception: As the Press Herald reports, 22-year-old Devon Staples apparently set off a firework on top of his own head last night, instantly killing...

9 Treated for Burns in Fireworks Misfire

Show in Colorado has a gaffe

(Newser) - The first big fireworks fail of the holiday is out of Avon, Colorado, where an accident during a show last night left nine people with minor burns. It happened about 17 minutes into the festivities, when a shell apparently exploded in its tube instead of soaring into the sky, reports...

China Tries to Ax New Year's Fireworks —Over Smog

Beijing advises against them as several cities ban them outright

(Newser) - Setting off fireworks to celebrate Chinese New Year may be a centuries-old tradition, but the country's authorities are urging people to light fewer of them this week as cities fight a losing battle against relentless, toxic air pollution. Dozens of cites in China have outright banned lighting fireworks today...

Woman Dies, Man Loses Hands in July 4 Accidents

Also, a Detroit man dies after firework flies into chest

(Newser) - Another Fourth of July has passed and once again, carelessness or bad luck with fireworks meant some people didn't make it through the weekend. Some cases from around the country:
  • Detroit man Mike Aburouman, 44, was killed almost instantly when a firework he picked up to light flew directly
...

Inmate Taken Out to Watch Fireworks Flees

Missouri man recaptured after weekend manhunt

(Newser) - An accused killer taken out of jail to watch Independence Day fireworks demonstrated why taking inmates out of jail to watch fireworks shows may not be the brightest idea. Jason McClurg broke free after a deputy took him and nine other inmates out of Missouri's Shannon County jail and...

July 4th Fireworks Are Made by ... China?

China still produces nearly all of US consumer fireworks

(Newser) - Ah, Independence Day fireworks: What could be more ... Chinese? Yep, despite strong "Buy American" sentiments in other fields (the US military must fly made-in-America flags, for example), China still manufactures at least 98% of consumer fireworks and 75% of "display" fireworks (for big shows) sold in America, Politico...

What Fireworks Really Are: the Sound of War

Maybe it's time we lose them from our July 4 celebrations, writes Sarah Miller

(Newser) - When Sarah Miller, then roughly 20, heard a "nonspecific rat-a-tat-tat" while catching a movie at a theater in Bogota, Colombia, she, along with everyone else, panicked. It turned out to be fireworks intended to commemorate the mall's anniversary, but hearing them "divorced from the context of potato...

300 Porta-Potties Set Ablaze by New Year's Fireworks

Fire started in grass, spread to rental business

(Newser) - A New Year's fireworks display went extremely awry last night, when investigators say the fireworks sparked a blaze that ultimately destroyed 300 porta-potties. The San Antonio fire started in the grass and spread to a rental business, News 4 reports. No one was injured except one firefighter who stepped...

Dubai Blows Away NYE Fireworks Record

400K fireworks set off to welcome 2014

(Newser) - Dubai, home of the world's tallest building, decided to usher in 2014 in typical over-the-top fashion with the biggest fireworks display in history. Guinness World Records staff certified that the spectacular 30-minute show, featuring 400,000 fireworks over dozens of miles of shoreline, was the biggest ever, easily beating...

Dozens Killed in Vietnam Fireworks Factory Explosion

Others horrifically burned in accident near Hanoi

(Newser) - Fireworks were going off in the northern Vietnam for all the wrong reasons yesterday, when a military-run fireworks factory about 75 miles north of Hanoi exploded, killing dozens and leaving many more injured. The precise death toll is still unclear: the AP puts it at 19, while AFP reports 24,...

Miss Utah Contestant Jailed in Drive-By 'Bombings'

Four teens allegedly chucked exploding water bottles out of their car

(Newser) - Police arrested four 18-year-olds from Riverton, Utah—including Miss Riverton herself—on Saturday, on suspicion that they'd been driving around chucking makeshift explosives out their car's window. Kendra McKenzie Gill, who was named Miss Riverton in June, Bryce Christopher Stone, and two others are still being held in...

Fireworks Explode Into Crowd, Injuring 28

20 hospitalized after Independence Day event near LA

(Newser) - A crowd gathered for Fourth of July fireworks saw celebration turn to disaster as an explosion hurt 28 people. Twenty of those were hospitalized, four with "moderate to severe injuries," NBC Los Angeles reports. Their wounds, however, aren't life-threatening, the AP notes. The incident occurred in Simi...

Bloomberg: Keep Sparkler Ban— Because of Terrorists

Urges Cuomo to veto law allowing sale of sparklers ahead of July 4

(Newser) - New York Mayor Bloomberg is urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to veto a newly passed bill that would allow the sale of sparklers and similar small novelty fireworks like toy caps outside of New York City, in case ... terrorists use them to make bombs. Even though sales of sparklers remains illegal...

Fireworks Blamed in Fatal Bridge Collapse

Chinese state media say 8 dead, 13 injured

(Newser) - A fireworks truck may have been responsible for destroying a freeway bridge in central China yesterday and killing at least eight people, AFP reports. With the 260-foot span of concrete lying in a heap of twisted cars and trucks, China National Radio first reported the death toll at 26, but...

Death Toll Hits 233 in Brazil Nightclub Inferno

Fire breaks out during band's fireworks display

(Newser) - A fireworks display in a Brazilian nightclub went horribly awry last night, spawning a fire that police say killed upward of 233 people, reports CNN . Police on the scene at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria have already removed 159 bodies, reports Reuters , and rescuers are still looking for more....

World Welcomes 2013
 World Welcomes 2013 
Jan 1, 2013 3:37 AM CST

World Welcomes 2013

Burma holds first public NYE bash in decades

(Newser) - Fireworks lit up the sky in big and small cities around the world as people said farewell to 2012 and welcomed the new year. Many hoped for a better 2013 after another year of economic uncertainty, and in New York City's Times Square, some of the hundreds of thousands...

Australia Welcomes 2013
 Happy New Year, World 
UPDATED
Dec 31, 2012 8:22 AM CST

Happy New Year, World

It's 2013 somewhere

(Newser) - It's already 2013 somewhere! Australia of course rang in the New Year first, with a typically brilliant firework display over Sydney Harbour at around 8am East Coast time. Since then, revelers have rung in 2013 across Asia, with notable celebrations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Kuala Lampur, and more....

1 Dead, 30 Hurt in Fireworks Explosion

Nigerian-factory blast sparks blaze in crowded market

(Newser) - A fireworks factory exploded in the Nigerian city of Lagos today and sparked a fire that spread to at least nine other buildings, killing one and injuring 30, AFP reports. Crowds gathered to watch as people jumped from windows to save their lives and bystanders ran to fetch water. Shop...

San Diego Fireworks Suffer 'Premature Ignition'

Entire 4th of July show goes up in seconds

(Newser) - Millions of Americans had a firework-free Fourth of July because of wildfire fears, but San Diego got a big show—that lasted less than 30 seconds. The official display in San Diego Bay was called off after at least three of four barges suffered what authorities called "premature ignition,...

All Over US, Fireworks Axed Due to Heat

They're banned in scores of communities, particularly in the West

(Newser) - The red glare of rockets will be missing from scores of Independence Day celebrations tonight, Reuters finds. Dry conditions and record-breaking heat have turned much of America into a tinderbox and caused many communities—particularly those in the West—to cancel their annual fireworks displays. "All it would take...

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