TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — At least 12 people suffered injuries at Tainan’s Yanshuei Beehive Fireworks Festival, including a 13-year-old boy who took a firework to the eye.
The celebration was held on Feb. 4 and 5 for the first time in three years due to restrictions around mass gatherings during the pandemic. It was estimated that 200,000 people attended the event in which thousands of rockets created loud, bee-like buzzing sounds and flew randomly into crowds of onlookers.
Despite the Tainan fire department recommending onlookers cover themselves completely with protective gear, not all did so. Ten men and two women were injured during the event, two of them seriously.
One man who was not wearing any protective gear received second-degree burns to nearly 40% of his body, and a 13-year-old boy was also seriously injured when a firework hit him in the eye. Both were sent to hospital for treatment.
Minor injuries included one man who did not wear a helmet and was hit on the head by a firework, and another woman who was hit in the leg. Both were assisted by an emergency care station set up at the event by the Tainan City Government.
The event also produced a huge amount of waste, with a reported 23 tons of fireworks debris and rubbish left behind. The Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau dispatched a team of 185 people, street sweepers, bobcats, and rubbish trucks to clean up the mess.
The main roads where the event took place were reopened by 8 a.m. Monday (Feb. 6), the following day, and the whole area was back to normal by 11 a.m., according to Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲).
23 tons of rubbish were cleared from the area after the event. (CNA photo)
