Overview
- The friends, ages 12 and 13, picked up a failed firecracker on New Year’s Day after it did not ignite on New Year’s Eve.
- About ten days later they tried to light it at a playground in Elpersdorf near Ansbach, where it exploded immediately in one child’s hand.
- One child suffered minor burns and the other a facial laceration, and both received hospital treatment.
- Police said the device had almost no fuse left and stressed that misfires can remain hazardous well after the holiday.
- Authorities warned against touching or relighting suspected unexploded fireworks and recommended neutralizing them by dousing with water.