Fireworks on the Fourth not all Fun
Five deaths and 25 people injured came with all the fireworks fun of the Fourth of July holiday this past weekend in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Four of the five were killed by explosions when a truck carrying fireworks exploded on Saturday, with two workers immediately killed, and two others who died in a hospital later that night. The fifth was killed during a fireworks show in Pennsylvania, and the 25 were injured when a pedestrian bridge collapsed, as reported by AOL News.
And the bridge collapsed not because of some crazy fireworks explosion, but because there were too many people on it.
Makes you wonder who’s in charge of these events. Didn’t someone think to realize that a ton of people on a little bridge might be a problem? Oh yeah, and let me not forget to mention that the bridge was made of wood. Yes, wood. Termites? Dry rot? Who knows. Either way, it collapsed and sent 50 people looking forward to a Fourth of July fireworks show down into the water with masses of broken bridge. Talk about some great festivities. Well, hopefully they know now for next year.
The article reported that all of these incidents were “accidental.” What a shocker. If any of these “incidents” were anything else, I’d be shouting terrorism.
Also according to the article, a “silent parade” was held on Sunday as a memorial service for the victims and people who responded to the explosion, which followed the regularly scheduled parade for the day.
Just goes to show that a holiday all about the “boom-boom” doesn’t always end with a happy bang.
Brittany @ July 6, 2009