Several injured by Easter firecrackers

A NUMBER of innocent bystanders were injured by illegal firecrackers over the Easter weekend.

On the night of the Resurrection, in the church of Ayios Antonios in Limassol, a 15-year-old tried to pick up a fire cracker that had been thrown but did not explode. The fire cracker exploded in the boy’s hand, severing his right thumb.

Injuries from fire crackers were also recorded in Polemidia, with a 28-year-old injured and in Lania village, where a 16-year-old was taken to hospital, having suffered lesions on his face from the explosion of a firecracker.

In the Ayios Athanassios refugee estate in Limassol, fire fighters had to be called out after youths began to throw old car tyres into the traditional lambradja bonfire. The spreading blaze was deemed a danger for passing cars, but when the Fire Department came to the scene they were stoned by the youths, with their fire engine sustaining serious damage. A car was set on fire in the same area later that night.

Young men were again responsible for another serious incident, at the expense of a family leaving the church of Ayios Nicolaos in Larnaca. The youths threw a fire cracker at the car on Grivas Digenis Street, which exploded on the left side of the vehicle. From the explosion, the airbags on the left side of the car were activated, slightly injuring the wife and daughter of the 35-year-old driver. They were taken to a private clinic for treatment and released.

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