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Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Michael Lane
Wednesday, 31 December 2014 - 12:13
At least 11 serious fireworks injuries so far
There has already been problems with fireworks in the run-up to New Year's Eve. A man from Zwolle was seriously injured on his hands and face when he was making fireworks. Eleven other people have also been hurt by fireworks. The complaint site Vuurwerkoverlast.nl has already received more than 44 thousand complaints.
The man from Zwolle was making fireworks in his house on Monday night when the different chemicals and raw materials he was using exploded. His house caught fire. The 56 year old man was taken to the hospital with serious injuries on his face and hands. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal was called in and adjacent homes had to be evacuated.
The Netherlands Association for Plastic Surgery (NVPC) have registered 11 victims of firework injuries so far. According to Annekatrien van der Kar of the NVPC, this is comparable to other years. The NVPC states that the shortened firework lighting times has had no affect on the number of victims. In other years it became clear that many people were wounded outside the allowed times. According to the association, the actual number of victims may be higher because not all doctors report victims to the association. The NVPC will announce the final number of victims in the new year.
The firework complaint site Vuurwerkoverlast.nl is receiving more than 500 complaints per hour, according to the sites founder GroenLinks councilor Arno Bonte. The number of complaints increased from more than 30 thousand last night to 44,372 today.