Fireworks are pretty, but there's a hefty price to pay if they are not handled with caution!At least 125 people were injured setting off Chinese New Year fireworks mSunday in Beijing, where the noisy tradition has made a comeback after a ban was lifted, state media said.
The official Xinhua News Agency cited police as blaming the injuries on shoddy firecrackers that had flooded into China's capital city this year.
The fireworks were part of celebrations marking the start of the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, which began Sunday.
Xinhua described three of the injuries as serious; one person's eyes had to be removed.
An official with Beijing's Tongren Hospital said 44 people has been admitted with eye injuries from setting off fireworks, the agency reported.
It said that 114 accidental fireworks-caused fires were reported in Beijing, but that the blazes caused no injuries.
Regulations limit fireworks to certain parts of the capital, and to a half-hour period on Chinese New Year's Eve -- but few people seemed to follow the rules. Skyrockets were exploding over much of downtown Beijing from dusk Saturday through early Sunday.
Firecrackers popped noisily throughout the night, and on Sunday morning city streets were littered with tattered red paper and the cardboard casings from spent fireworks.
Under pressure from the public, Beijing and some other Chinese cities eased a decade-old ban on fireworks last year, letting people take part in an ancient New Year tradition meant to drive away bad luck and scare off evil spirits.
Link & Image: CNN
Tags: Beijing | Fireworks
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