Restrict Fireworks
The Evidence for February 2009
Feb 1, 15 killed in
firework fire in Chinese bar, Radio Netherlands
At least 15
people have been killed in a fire in a bar
in the south-eastern Chinese city of Changle. Twenty others were injured,
according to the Chinese press agency Xinhua. Fireworks were set off during a birthday party, setting
fire to the ceiling. The blaze spread
rapidly.
Setting off fireworks is a tradition during the Chinese Lunar New Year
celebrations, but there are often accidents. The celebrations end this weekend.
Feb 1, 15 killed in
firework fire in Chinese bar, Radio Netherlands
Feb 2, DSI to take over
Santika fire case, Bangkok Post
The Justice Ministry wants to
take over investigation into the New Year inferno at Santika Pub as it has
found some flaws in police's investigation
into the fire which killed 66 people.
The ministry's investigation also
found possible involvement of the entertainment venue with illicit drugs and
money-laundering, said minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga on Monday.
Therefore, the case should be
handled by the ministry's Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
The minister said he would
propose the special investigation board to take over the case from the Bangkok
police next Tuesday.
According to Mr Pirapan,
police's investigation attributed the fire to Saravuth Ariya, the lead vocalist
of the Burn rock band, who was accused of using a lighter to ignite a firework and thus causing
the blaze.
However, Justice Ministry's
investigators found a surveillance camera recording at the crime scene that
completely rules out the charge.
In the recording, the singer
had not lit any firework but had left the stage before the fire broke out.
The tape shows fireworks in
the pub had been ignited with an electronic device, not a lighter. The fire
spread quickly possibly because the ceiling of the pub might bear flammable
materials.
The minister doubted why
there were few witnesses accounts in the police probe despite the fact that a
number of people were eager to testify after the incident.
The ministry's investigators
also found traces of heroin and cocaine in accounting and marketing offices as
well as musicians' room at the pub. The traces were on money wraps, sofas, file
cabinets, and drawers.
That might convince that
narcotics had been traded at the Santika pub and the Office of the Narcotics
Control Board would further look into the issue, he said.
The Anti-Money Laundering
Office had been instructed to investigate possible money-laundering at the pub
as 20 million baht had been transferred to the pub's account but its source
could not be clarified, he said.
The pub management claimed
that a liquor company had given the amount but the concerned company already
denied that, Mr Pirapan said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed with the ministry's proposal to have the DSI take over
the case from the police.
He dismissed speculation that
Mr Pirapan's revelation of the ministry's investigation could create rift
between the police and the DSI investigators, saying that he had already
instructed to two agencies to work together on the case.
Feb 2, DSI to take over
Santika fire case, Bangkok Post
Feb 4, 'Crude device'
found in car park , BBC News
A crude explosive device has
been found near an apartment complex in north Belfast the police have said.
Army experts were called to
the area on Wednesday morning to examine a suspicious object at Antrim Close,
off the Antrim Road in Skegoneill.
Following examination the
device, described as "crude but viable", was removed for further
examination. It is
understood to be a doctored firework.
It device had been spotted in
a car park just after 0900 GMT.
Feb 4, 'Crude device'
found in car park , BBC News
Feb 5, "We need to
stop assaulting family, friends with fireworks", American Lung Association
of Hawaii
Few if any of us would fire
up charcoal barbeque in our living room. The obvious threat to our family’s
safety from fire, burns and lung damage makes doing do unthinkable. Yet
thousands of us don’t hesitate to set off fireworks in our shared recreation
room despite the same hazards to our family and neighbors. The hazards are
real, especially to the 154,000 island residents who suffer from some form of
lung disease… Short-term exposure to particle pollution can kill – maybe not
the next day, but maybe in months or years. … It’s time we stand up to this assault on our lungs and
say, “Enough!” Exploding aerial fireworks
and strings of firecrackers might be fun and even culturally important for
some, but lives are being cut short by this exercise of free will.
Feb 5, "We need to
stop assaulting family, friends with fireworks", American Lung Association
of Hawaii
Feb 8, 'Fireworks jar'
thrown at house , BBC News
A glass jar
containing fireworks has been thrown at a house in north Belfast.
A number of adults were in
the property at Mountainhill Walk in Ligoniel at about 0030 GMT on Saturday
when the attack happened.
The jar smashed against a
windowsill at the front of the house leaving scorch marks. No other damage was
caused.
Police are investigating a
motive for the attack and have appealed for information.
Feb 8, 'Fireworks jar'
thrown at house , BBC News
Feb 8, Six dead in
illegal firework blast, The Australian
An explosion
at an illegal fireworks factory in southwest China killed six people and
injured nine others.
Five died immediately in
the blast on Saturday afternoon in a village in Guizhou province, the official
Xinhua news agency reported.
Ten others were rushed to
hospital where one more worker died, the report said, adding the incident was
still being investigated.
The accident happened at
the end of the Lunar New Year festivities, which Chinese across the world
celebrate with massive amounts of fireworks and firecrackers.
Feb 8, Six dead in
illegal firework blast, The Australian
Feb 10, Fireworks blamed
for Beijing hotel blaze – Update, The Earth Times
Fireworks
caused a fire that engulfed a newly built hotel tower in Beijing and led to the death of one firefighter
and the hospitalization of six others, state media said on Tuesday. State
broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), which owns the site of the hotel,
hired a company to let off hundreds of giant fireworks outside the tower, the
official Xinhua news agency quoted Luo Yuan, Beijing's deputy fire chief, as
saying.
"Owners of the property
ignored police warnings that such fireworks were not allowed," Luo said.
Police were questioning the
people responsible for setting off the fireworks as part of their ongoing
investigation, he was quoted as saying.
The fireworks used at the
tower, which is next to the new CCTV headquarters, were "much more
powerful and explosive" than those on sale to the public and needed
special approval for use in the city centre, Luo said.
The whole firework display
and the start of the fire were recorded on four video cameras, he said.
Flames from the 159-metre
tall TVCC tower, which houses the recently completed Mandarin Oriental Hotel,
television studios and a cultural centre, could be seen from far afield.
A 30-year-old firefighter
died in hospital early Tuesday after emergency treatment failed to save him,
reports said.
Six other firefighters and a
construction manager also needed hospital treatment for the effects of smoke
billowing from the tower.
Firefighters rescued two
workers from the 14th floor of the otherwise empty building after the fire
broke out around 8:30 pm (1230 GMT) on Monday.
More than 1,000 local
residents were evacuated and several main roads and a nearby underground
railway line closed.
The Chinese capital
celebrated the end of two-week festival marking the Chinese New Year by letting
off tens of thousands of fireworks on Monday evening.
The hotel building stands 200
metres from the iconic "twisted arch" headquarters of CCTV, recently
completed and designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and German architect Ole
Scheeren.
The multi-billion-dollar
complex, which includes the TVCC tower as well as the television centre, is one
of the flagships of the current building boom in Beijing.
The 200-room luxury hotel was
due to be officially opened in the middle of this year.
Witnesses quoted by the
official Xinhua news agency reported seeing large chunks of concrete falling
from the tower late Monday.
The blaze was brought under
control just after midnight, reports said.
Feb 10, Fireworks blamed
for Beijing hotel blaze – Update, The Earth Times
Feb 12, Firefighter
warning after firework set off in street, Trader & Guardian
Firefighters in Retford have
asked residents to be on the lookout after a spate of fireworks being let off in the streets.
Crews attended Bridgegate
last Wednesday (11th) after reports of a loud explosion shortly before 9am.
"We've had a spate of these in the past few weeks," said a spokesman
for the station. "It's also happened in various other streets across the
town, as well as fields and woods."
Feb 12, Firefighter
warning after firework set off in street, Trader & Guardian
Feb 23, Man badly burned
by firework, Coventry Telegraph
A Nuneaton man was rushed to
hospital after being seriously burned by a firework.
The man, who is believed to
be in his 20s, suffered burns to his hand, wrist and face following the
incident on Saturday night.
Ambulance crews were called
to Chesterton Drive, Galley Common, Nuneaton shortly after 9.15pm.
A spokeswoman for West
Midlands Ambulance Service said: “On arrival at the scene crews found a man who had sustained a serious hand
and wrist injury from a firework. The
man, who is believed to be in his 20s, had also suffered burns to his face.
“Crews treated him at the
scene before conveying him to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire for
further assessment and treatment.
“The hospital was alerted to
the man’s arrival and the severity of his injuries.”
Feb 23, Man badly burned
by firework, Coventry Telegraph
Feb 28, 16-year-old
Jonathon Proctor tells of firework blaze horror, Evening Chronicle
A grudge exploded into
violent madness which almost cost a schoolboy his life when a rival launched a
terrifying firework attack.
Jonathon Proctor was trapped
alone with his pet dog Sox when his tormentor struck and sent an exploding rocket through the
letterbox of his Tyneside home.
The 16-year-old was holed up
for almost 10 minutes on the first floor, his escape route cut off by flames
and choking black smoke.
Fearing for his life,
Jonathon took refuge in an upstairs room in the flat in Kirkwood, Burradon,
North Tyneside, and barricaded the door, stuffing towels around it as wadding
to stop smoke pouring into the room.
Firefighters eventually
pulled him to safety and today Jonathon, who lives with his dad, Mark, 48,
relived his terrifying ordeal and told how he feared for his life.
He said: “There was a massive
bang and flames burst up the stairs. The fire spread so quickly.
“I couldn’t get out of the
house and I thought I might die. It was terrifying. I managed to get the window
open and I was screaming and trying to get out, but I couldn’t.
“It scared the living day out
of me. The fire brigade arrived and they tried to get in but they couldn’t, so
they had to get me out by the window.
“I was trapped in the room
with the dog at my feet for almost 10 minutes. It felt like forever and I
couldn’t stop coughing.”
The attack happened at around
9pm on November 7 when the 15-year-old attacker, who cannot be named for legal
reason, downed alcohol and terrorised the village of Burradon.
When an older youth handed
the teenager a lit rocket he boasted to his friends: “I’m going to post this
through Jonny’s letterbox.”
And during a hearing inside
Newcastle Crown Court, he was handed a 12-month stint inside a young offenders’
institute, after he pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life.
The court heard that Jonathon
had been friends with his attacker prior to the arson attack. But over time the
two had begun arguing and it rapidly escalated into a series of fist fights.
The attack last year caused
more than £16,000 of damage and since the incident Jonathon and his dad have
been unable to live in the house.
Last night Jonathon said he
owed his life to the firefighter who had rescued him.
He said: “I feel like the
firefighters saved my life. Without them I would have had to jump from the
window.”
Passing sentence, Judge David
Hodson said the youngster was lucky that his actions had not caused Jonathon’s
death.
He said: “You are only 15,
only a teenager, and a moral responsibility rests on the shoulders of those who
passed you the firework.
“But it was you who put it
through Jonathon Proctor’s door, and he must have been terrified.
“He was upstairs when he sees
a rocket come fizzing through the letterbox. One only needs to see the
photographs of the house to see the extent of the damage caused.
“It’s only by a miracle that
he was able to get in touch with the emergency services who rescued him.”
Feb 28, 16-year-old
Jonathon Proctor tells of firework blaze horror, Evening Chronicle
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