04 November 2023 , 14:31
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Brits at a fireworks display were left horrified when the pyrotechnics misfired, leading to reports of injuries, and they were shocked when the display continued on regardless.
Several children and adults were said to have been injured at the firework display hosted by Stone Swynnerton Park Cricket Club, in Stone, Staffordshire, yesterday evening. Around 3,000 people were thought to have attended when fireworks veered off course, according to reports, and went into the crowd.
One onlooker said that a call went out over the public address system for a first aider, and, to the shock of many, the display then went on. Lucy Lugg, 46, from nearby Stafford, was at the event with her husband Malcolm, 59, and two children, aged 11 and 14. She told the Mirror the incident occurred just minutes into the display and she was shocked when it continued after.
She said: "It was only about 10 minutes in and something seemed to happen and I don’t know if the fireworks had tipped over but they shot off towards the pathway where there was a lot of people. They were suddenly moving, there was commotion. We were quite far back.”
After fireworks veered off course and into the crowd, a number of people left, and were shocked when the display continued (SWNS)
The medical tent at Stone Swynnerton Park Cricket Club, in Stone, Staffordshire (SWNS)She said much of the crowd then started to disperse. “There was a little bit of panic, there were a lot of people going quite quickly because they didn’t want to stay because we just thought it was unsafe or it was going to be over - we thought that was it. As we were walking back to the car and we saw the fireworks going again, I thought how on Earth are they carrying on?"
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Lucy said she and her family were watching from the balcony outside the clubhouse as Malcolm is disabled. She said: “We weren’t near it but we saw it and it was quite shocking from an organised display.
“My kids were upset by it. You couldn’t tell exactly what happened, there was an announcement saying they wanted a first aider but there was at least two fireworks that had gone into the crowd and they fired another one and I think that went into the crowd as well. It seemed to have been organised on a computer so I think it must have slipped over on its stand.”
She added that her friend texted her afterwards to say the organisers called it a ‘technical incident’ before continuing with the display. She said: “They didn’t say it was an accident, they said ‘we’ve restarted them now because of a technical incident’. On Facebook, there were posts saying a child had been hit in the face, someone had got their coat singed, a woman would have been hit but managed to pull her daughter out of the way.”
After the incident, around half of the crowd was said to have walked out, with one onlooker saying they “instantly heard screams” when the fireworks misfired. The witness said: "I saw something hit the floor and had this instinctive feeling something wasn't going to go right. All you could hear was screaming after that. After it happened, everything froze. We didn't know what was going on.
"Half the crowd left. But then the fireworks started going off again! We thought 'how can they continue with the display after what happened' and we took the kids and left."
One woman said: "My son took some of a rogue firework to the chin. He's five. He was terrified. Such a shame. Can't fault the first aiders. I can't believe they carried on either."
Another said: "It was horrible, we left straight after that happened." While another said: "We left after a stray firework flew past my son and nephews face we grabbed them and left."
Stone Swynnerton Park Cricket Club and the local ambulance service have both been approached for comment.