Overview
- Berlin police detained about 400 people for dangerous pyrotechnics and related offenses, and reported 21 officers with blast injuries after repeated attacks.
- Two 18-year-olds in Bielefeld died after igniting self-made devices, while a 14-year-old near Rostock lost a hand and a 16-year-old in Leipzig sustained severe hand injuries.
- Berlin’s Unfallkrankenhaus treated 25 patients for severe hand trauma including amputations, with eight children among the injured.
- Authorities reported seizing 220,000 illegal or improperly stored pyrotechnic items ahead of New Year’s, as 4,300 police and 1,600 firefighters were deployed in the capital.
- Investigators are probing a suspected illegal fireworks workshop after a Bochum apartment explosion, as fire brigades handled hundreds of calls, including a kugelbombe blast in Berlin-Spandau and unrest in parts of Leipzig and Hamburg.