The accident occurred in the small town of Haxbergen in the east of the Netherlands, near the German border, when the two children were apparently watching an adult setting off fireworks using a homemade device.
Police wrote on Twitter: “A 12-year-old boy died after the accident. Another boy was taken to hospital.” She explained that “the two children have nothing to do with the accident.”
The public radio “NOS” said that the two children were watching a man detonating firecrackers using a “clavamer” device, an upgraded version of a game in the form of a weapon based on hitting a hammer to an anvil filled with combustible powder, which produces a strong noise.
The police arrested a man in connection with the incident.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Dutch traditionally celebrated the New Year by spending huge amounts of money on fireworks, which turned some streets into virtual battlefields.
But this practice is banned this year for the second year in a row.
Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said that fireworks-related injuries are putting great pressure on health workers who are already battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
But despite the ban, firecrackers are often heard in the run-up to New Year’s Eve.
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