Faulty firework injures 12 at Mekong festival

NAKHON PHANOM: Twelve people received minor burns when a faulty firework exploded during the Loy Krathong festival on the Mekong riverbank in Muang district on Tuesday night.

The incident occurred after the festival was launched by deputy governor Chawanin Wongsathitjirakan before a large crowd about 7pm on the bank of the Mekong River.

After the opening ceremony there was a fireworks display, but one of them went off on the ground instead of launching its incandescence into the sky, Pol Maj Gen Tawatchai Thungpao, the provincial police chief, said.

The explosion sent slivers of fire into the nearby crowd, inflicting slight burns on a number of people. An emergency response team rushed the injured to Nakhon Phanom Hospital for treatment.

Muang Nakhon Phanom municipal mayor Niwat Jiawiriyaboonya confirmed 12 people sustained minor injuries. The municipality would pay for their medical treatment and also give compensation, he said.