Homemade firecracker

Part of his hand blown off before his 18th birthday

New Year's Eve is firecracker season - those firecrackers that are homemade are even more dangerous. A serious accident has now occurred in Seewalchen (symbolic image).

(Bild: dpa (Symbolbild))

A boy is now spending his 18th birthday in Linz Accident Hospital. He had blown off part of his hand with a homemade firecracker at home in Seewalchen. The fact that he still has his eyesight is pure luck, as pieces of plastic also flew into his face.

Shortly before New Year's Eve, a firecracker brought a young man from Seewalchen to hospital on the night before his 18th birthday. According to initial investigations, the teenager, who is known to the police, had filled the plastic casing of a thick pen with an explosive substance. He and two friends wanted to set off the homemade firecracker on a road just outside the town. But something went wrong.

Hand and facial injuries
At around 8 p.m. on Sunday night, the explosive device tore in the almost 18-year-old's hand and inflicted a large flesh wound. Part of the ball of his hand was torn out and the boy also suffered injuries to his face, fortunately not to his eyes.

Microsurgery necessary
The Red Cross took the injured man to the hospital in Vöcklabruck for initial treatment, after which he was transferred to the accident hospital in Linz for microsurgery. It has yet to be determined who made and lit the firecracker.