German officials call for clampdown on illegal ‘firework bombs’ after five deaths

Explosives brought in from Poland and the Czech Republic are combined with household items for a bigger bang

German officials have called for a clampdown on illegally imported and homemade “firework bombs” after pyrotechnics for personal use killed at least five people across the country on New Year’s Eve.

The use of personal firecrackers is widespread and only lightly regulated in Germany, leading to hundreds of injuries and massive deployments of police and first responders in cities at the end of every year.

Topics

Germany debates menace of ‘firework bombs’ after New Year’s violence

Deaths and clashes with police mar celebrations, with officials calling for tougher curbs on use of powerful fireworks
Financial Times - 1d
New Orleans attacker used very rare explosive in bombs, officials say

Shamsud-Din Jabbar used a rare explosive in New Orleans that has never before been used in a U.S. or European terrorist attack. A key question is how he learned of the explosive and managed to ...
NBC News - 8h
Bomb-making materials found at home of New Orleans attacker, officials say

Federal investigators previously said they found two IEDs near the site of the New Orleans truck attack. They also detonated some materials found at a New Orleans Airbnb.
CBS News - 23h
Shares of alcohol makers fall after US official calls for cancer warnings

Surgeon-general calls for more prominent warning labels on drinks to raise awareness of the link
Financial Times - 1d
Situation eases after IT glitch causes delays at German airports

Yahoo News - 1d
Honolulu firework blast kills three after inflicting ‘war-zone injuries’

Tougher penalties promised for illegal fireworks as more than 20 people suffer severe burns and shrapnel wounds. Emergency crews arrived at a chaotic and gruesome scene in a neighbourhood of ...
The Guardian - 2d
3 killed in Hawaii explosion caused by illegal fireworks display

A firework explosion in Hawaii has killed at least three people and injured two dozen more. Authorities say a partygoer lit a bundle of aerial fireworks which then fell on its side, setting off ...
CBS News - 2d
German government condemns New Year's Eve violence after hundreds of arrests

The German government has condemned incidents on New Year’s Eve in which police officers and firefighters were attacked and injured, mostly with fireworks
ABC News - 3d

More from The Guardian

Hamas releases video it says is of Israeli hostage held in Gaza since 2023 attack

Family of now 19-year-old conscript Liri Albag appeals to PM to ‘take decisions as if it were your own children there’. The armed wing of Hamas has released a video it says is of an Israeli hostage ...
The Guardian - 3h
Coalition talks between Austria’s two biggest centrist parties collapse

Chancellor Karl Nehammer to step down after failure to form government without far-right Freedom party. Talks between the two biggest centrist parties in Austria on forming a coalition government ...
The Guardian - 2h
Prince William ‘shocked and saddened’ by death of British man in New Orleans attack

Edward Pettifer, stepson of princes’ former nanny, was one of 14 killed in New Year’s Day truck attack. The Prince of Wales has said he is shocked and saddened by the death of his former nanny’s ...
The Guardian - 7h
Marlon Brando fury at ‘feeling like a freak’ among revelations in new book of Hollywood secrets

Brando, Ava Gardner, Anita Ekberg and other A-listers are featured in a memoir about the glamour of the 1950s film industry . Marlon Brando was the original angry young man, winning an Oscar for ...
The Guardian - 12h
World’s oldest person, Tomiko Itooka, dies in Japan aged 116

Itooka, who died at a care home in Ashiya, enjoyed bananas and had been a keen mountain climber. A Japanese woman who was the world’s oldest living person has died at the age of 116.. Tomiko ...
The Guardian - 7h