Two boys expected to lose a hand in illegal firecracker accidents

Two boys in the province of Gelderland were seriously injured on Saturday afternoon in separate explosions involving heavy fireworks. Both boys suffered trauma to a hand because of the accidents.

“I am not a doctor, but it seems that in both cases the victims will have to lose their hand,” said Paul Koetsier. He works in the police dispatch center for Arnhem and Nijmegen, where the two incidents took place within an hour of each other.

One journalist said on Twitter that police were searching for fingers in the Stadseiland neighborhood of Arnhem-Zuid.

“We see these kinds of accidents more often on New Year's Day," Koetsier stated in reference to people who sometimes try to set off fireworks which were left on the street. "But in both cases this is the result of setting off dangerous fireworks of the Cobra variety," he told De Gelderlander.

The newspaper said that the popular Cobra 6 firecracker contains 25 times the amount of gunpowder which is allowable in commercial firecrackers.

There was also a fireworks ban imposed in the Netherlands around New Year’s Eve. That was to create attempt to create some relief for emergency room and intensive care healthcare workers under enormous pressure due to the coronavirus pandemic.