Exploded in hand

Amateur footballer loses finger in firecracker accident

Fabio Schiafino was seriously injured in a firecracker accident.

(Bild: X/Marca)

KSCT Menen's victory against SK Zillebeke in a Belgian amateur league was overshadowed by a nasty accident. When a player tried to dispose of a pyrotechnic firecracker that had flown onto the pitch, it exploded in his hand. The 26-year-old lost a finger in the process.

Videos on X and Co. show how the Menen players march to the stands after the final whistle to celebrate with the fans. A supporter of the winning team throws a firecracker onto the pitch. Fabio Schiafino reaches for the firecracker, fearing it might explode, and it does indeed go off.

Several operations
"When the smoke cleared, I saw that part of my finger had disappeared," the player told the Belgian daily newspaper "HLN". Schiafino was immediately taken to hospital, where he had to undergo several operations in the intensive care unit. Several fingers could be saved, but not all of them. 

Fabio Schiafino wanted to throw away the firecracker when it suddenly exploded.

(Bild: X/Marca)

"I wanted to throw the projectile away because I thought it wasn't safe for the children on the sidelines, but then it exploded in my hand. I didn't immediately realize what had happened. My little brother came up to me and it was only when I saw him staring at my hand in shock that I looked at it myself. My hand was completely broken," Schiafino recalled the terrible scenes. The fan who threw the firecracker has since been arrested and charged with reckless assault.