Military firework display ends in disaster when pensioner is killed and ten spectators are wounded by ‘shrapnel’ from faulty pyrotechnics in Belarus
- A 64-year-old woman was killed when a fragment tore a gaping hole in her neck
- ‘It looked like a huge bug,’ said witness, causing ‘a blood fountain from her neck’
- Other spectators were injured by pieces of three misfiring pyrotechnic shells
- July 3 display marked the anniversary of Minsk’s liberation from Nazis in 1944
This is the moment a display of fireworks from the Belarus army ended in horror with one woman dead and ten people injured.
A 64-year-old pensioner was killed after a gaping hole was blown in her neck by shrapnel from an 195mm (eight-inch) shell used in the military pyrotechnic display in capital city Minsk.
Others among a crowd of thousands were wounded after being ‘struck by shrapnel’ from at least three misfiring fireworks.
Paramedics try in vain to save the life of a 64-year-old woman who was struck in the neck by part of a pyrotechnic artillery shell at a fireworks display in Minsk on Wednesday night
The spectacular display marked the country’s Independence Day but turned into disaster with amid suspicions ‘faulty explosives’ from Russia were behind the horror.
Videos show an explosion near the ground beside the River Svislach during a massive display in the capital of Belarus.
And photos taken by witnesses show broken windows and fragments of the fireworks that hit them – some inches long.
Wednesday night’s firwork display was part of the annual celebrations of the city’s liberation by the Red Army from invading Nazi German forces in 1944
A witness said: ‘The pensioner and her daughter were standing close to the water.
‘I was watching fireworks in the sky when I spotted something flying towards us.
‘Its speed was not high, it looked like a huge bug, and it hit the woman in her neck.’
She collapsed with ‘a blood fountain from her neck’.
The woman’s daughter ‘shouted that her mum had been hit by shrapnel’.
People tried to stop the bleeding but there was a ‘gaping hole’ and they could not stem the flow from her artery.
A spectator at Wednesday night’s fireworks display in Minsk shows fragments of the pyrotechnic artillery shells used
Children were ‘so scared’ and ‘shivering’ after seeing the horrific accident.
Windows were shattered in nearby buildings.
Shells of 105 mm (four inches), 125 mm (five inches), 150 mm (six inches), 195 mm (eight inches) and 310 mm (12 inches) had been used in the firework display, said the Belarus defence ministry.
‘The woman could not be saved,’ said the State Investigation Committee.
The army ‘expresses its condolences to the nearest and dearest of the killed woman and will render necessary assistance to them’, said a statement.
A window in a Minsk building broken by splinters from a faulty pyrotechnic shell during Wednesday night’s firework’s display
Earlier there was a display by the Belarusian and Russian air forces, while Chinese soldiers also took part in the Independence Day events.
Over 5,000 military personnel were involved in a parade.
A report from news agency BelaPAN said ‘faulty explosives’ were suspected to be behind the horror.
The fireworks had been supplied by Russian manufacturer Piro-Ross, it was reported.
Fireworks light up the night sky during Wednesday’s Independence Day celebrations in Minsk, the capital of Belarus