Two die, 561 hurt in Italian New Year celebrations

[efq]

(Reuters) - Two men were killed and 561 other people were wounded as Italians celebrated the New Year with massive displays of illegal and homemade fireworks, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday. Of those wounded, 76 were children under the age of 12.

Marking New Year's Eve festivities with fireworks is a deadly Italian tradition. Up to 2,000 cities, towns and villages had banned them this year, but police said they still seized thousands of tonnes of fireworks, including more than a thousand rocket launchers.

The most serious incident took place in Rome when a 31-year-old man lit a large firecracker which exploded in his apartment before he could throw it out the window. The explosion set off a bigger blast of the remaining fireworks that killed him and wounded several others in the apartment, including three children, police said.

"I was in bed, and the bed jumped. It was like an earthquake," said one neighbour, according to Ansa news agency.
A 39-year-old man was killed by a stray bullet in Naples as someone fired a weapon randomly in celebration. The victim himself was setting off a barrage of fireworks in front of his restaurant.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/01/oukoe-uk-italy-fireworks-idAFTRE80009220120101

It's just plain stupid of them. Jeez how can they be so careless?!
Every year and they never learn.

[-:Undertaker:-]

As silly as they are though I don't see any reason for the usual call of 'BAN THEM BAN THEM', as the politicians and reactionaries always say.

Awful and sad, but thats life.

[beth]

frankly, i don't understand why the call to ban them either. they obviously need stricter policies on the import of fireworks and WHO can buy them. because if people think it's normal and safe to light fireworks indoors they need some kind of guidance.

[Grig]

In Hong Kong they're banned for a reason- people scared of idiots like this making counterfeit or illegal home-made stuff. It's the person who made it in the first place, so they have themselves to blame. Although the fact it effected more innocent people is what's saddening. The fact countries ban selling fireworks in the first place link to such exact cases, the screw ups of the minority makes the majority suffer.

[efq]

Especially the part about the guy lighting in his apartment and attempting to throw it out the window :/ So what makes someone think its fine to throw a large firecracker down on other people?

[GommeInc]

Banning them will not prevent future problems. If anything, educate them officially by letting them see what the idiots of the past have to teach the idiots of the future.