More than 500 people were injured, 29 of them seriously, in accidents caused by fireworks during New Year celebrations in Italy.
A large proportion of those injured, 78 people, were from the southern port city of Naples, which is considered the capital of an illicit trade in dangerous fireworks.
In Rome, around 20 people were injured, including a 14-year-old who was blinded, in accidents involving firecrackers. In another, a 12-year-old lost two fingers.
Local authorities in the northern Turin area were forced to call in a waterbombing plane to control a forest fire believed to have been caused by fireworks.
AFP
