Berlin Sees a Chaotic and Hazardous New Year’s Eve, With Several Injured in a Rocket Explosion
Berlin’s New Year’s Eve celebrations descended into chaos and danger, with a series of explosive and hazardous incidents reported across the city. The majority of the incidents, which were largely captured on social media, were perpetrated by small groups of youths, many of whom have a migrant background.
A particularly tragic incident occurred in the Tegel neighborhood of the Reinickendorf district, where at least eight people were injured, some seriously, in an explosion of an illegal firework. A seven-year-old boy was critically injured, requiring not one, but two surgeries, and is currently in a life-threatening condition, according to media reports.
A video of the incident, obtained by the Berliner Tagesspiegel, shows the Emstaler Platz in a high-rise residential area of Tegel, captured from a nearby apartment building. The footage shows one of the most devastating incidents of the New Year’s Eve in Berlin: a firework exploding in the middle of a crowd of people.
A witness reported that the firework was deliberately aimed at a group of adults and children, according to the Berlin B.Z. Eight ambulances and three emergency doctors were on the scene.
The brother of the critically injured boy is now calling for witnesses to come forward on Instagram, pleading for help in the face of the devastating injuries his brother has suffered. “The most severely injured is my little brother Necati” he wrote. “His legs were blown apart, and he has genital injuries.”
The boy has already undergone three surgeries, and according to doctors, at least ten more are necessary.
The police are investigating the incident, which is being treated as a case of causing an explosive device to detonate. A portal has been set up to collect further videos and information about the incident.
Six other people, including three 9-year-olds, a 12-year-old, a 15-year-old, and two adults, were lightly injured and treated in nearby hospitals. The majority of those in the crowd were women and children, according to the brother of the critically injured boy.
“It’s always something on New Year’s Eve here, but this time it was particularly bad” said a local resident to the Tagesspiegel.