Fireworks prove too explosive
At least eight people around Greece were injured, including two teen- agers in danger of losing their hands, by fireworks over the Easter weekend, police said on Sunday. In the most serious incident, a 17-year-old in a village near Iraklion, Crete had his fingers severed after he set light to a homemade firework. The teenager was flown to the KAT Hospital in Athens so surgeons could try to restore his fingers. A 15-year-old boy damaged his eye in the incident. Another 17-year-old suffered a serious injury to his hand after lighting fireworks in a village near Patras. Doctors are attempting to save his hand. A mother and child were slightly injured in the village of Derveni in the Peloponnese by faulty fireworks set off by a priest at the local church. Millions of fireworks are traditionally let off to mark the resurrection of Christ, but it is illegal to sell pyrotechnics without a license. Police said they had arrested 179 people and seized some 1.5 million fireworks of various types since the beginning of March.
