Fireworks accident kills one, injures another in Limburg village
One person was killed and a second person was injured in a fireworks accident in Neeritter, Limburg. Police said the incident happened in a garden on the Rutjensstraat. It was the first fireworks-related fatality in over a year.
Authorities did not release information about the age, gender, or hometown of the two victims. Two people were lighting fireworks when the situation went awry, police said. The case was under investigation, and the type of firework involved was not revealed.
Despite efforts to revive the victim, the person died at the scene. Records show the first rescue workers were sent to the scene just after 8:30 p.m. A trauma team traveling by helicopter was also sent to Rutjensstraat.
The single-lane road extends for two kilometers along a nature reserve, past several homes and to the border with Belgium. Local media reported that the area was still cordoned off nearly two hours after the incident.
The last time a person was killed in a fireworks incident involved a 24-year-old man in Ridderkerk. A powerful firework exploded in the man's face on Boerhaavestraat at 11:45 p.m. on December 17, 2022. A 29-year-old man was detained on suspicion of setting off the explosive.
On December 31, a 23-year-old man was killed during a carbide shooting mishap in Diessen, Noord-Brabant. The accident happened at 4:40 p.m. in front of a group of about 40 friends and family.
Carbide shooting is when people place a small amount of carbide, a mixture of carbon and calcium, into an empty milk can. Some water is added, causing a buildup of gas, and the milk can is sealed with a ball. The gas is then ignited from a hole at the bottom of the can, causing an explosion that blasts the ball some distance away.
In Diessen, a 200-liter oil barrel was used instead of a milk can. It may have leaked gas, causing the barrel to explode, Hilvarenbeek Mayor Evert Weys told City Council a month after the accident. Diessen is part of the Hilvarenbeek municipality.
However, it was not considered to be a fatal fireworks incident. Although an explosive, carbide is not considered fireworks in the Netherlands.
