Boy, 15, loses fingers in accident with illegal fireworks

A 15-year-old boy was seriously injured while lighting illegal fireworks in Dongen, Noord-Brabant on Wednesday. "They boy will lose some fingers and possibly even a hand due to the accident", the Tilburg police said on Twitter.

Emergency services responded to the scene at around 4:00 p.m. The boy was lighting fireworks with two friends. As far as is known, the two friends were not hurt. What type of fireworks they were playing with, is not yet clear.

Every New Year's almost 500 people end up in emergency rooms with firework related injuries, some 200 eyes are damaged, and one person on average is killed. The Dutch Safety Board called New Year's the most dangerous time of the year in the Netherlands.