The figure includes the 12-year-old boy who died after an incident with a hammer in Haaksbergen.
The number of victims of fireworks this New Year’s Eve was still a lot lower (40 percent) than in 2019, when there was no fireworks ban. The fact that more fireworks were set off this year than during the first turn of the year in corona time is partly due to the fact that fireworks could be bought in Belgium this year. “We also suspect that the decline in support for the lockdown measures also played a role,” according to the knowledge center.
Last year, 190 children under the age of 12 were victims of an accident involving fireworks, compared to 120 the previous year. They suffered burns or eye injuries, especially from so-called F1 fireworks (also known as children’s fireworks). F1 fireworks were not banned. The setting off by young children is true, but almost half of the victims had done it themselves.
TikTok Challenge
More than half of the total number of firework victims in the emergency department and at the GP posts were younger than 20 years. SafetyNL also points out that a so-called ‘TikTok challenge’ has led to irresponsible behavior with fireworks among a number of children. The action, which was recorded and shared on the social medium, consisted of kicking out burning fireworks.
The setting off of heavy illegal fireworks not only caused burns, eye injuries and wounds to the head, but also led to amputations of one or more fingers, according to SafetyNL. Plastic surgeons have also reported an increase in the number of hand injuries compared to the previous year.
According to SafetyNL, 80 percent of the fireworks victims last year were boys and men.
Also listen to the discussion in the podcast Generation T. about the Dutch fireworks tradition: