We are already three weeks into the New Year. But the municipality of Eindhoven has come up with an overview of the incidents on New Year’s Eve. Mayor Jorritsma has “mixed feelings” about it, he writes in a letter to the city council.
“New Year’s Eve went without major incidents, but there were incidents. Despite the fireworks ban a lot of fireworks were set off”, writes Jorritsma. And that led to the necessary complaints about nuisance. “Even before New Year’s Eve.”
Warning shots
It was a relatively quiet evening, but the police had fired warning shots on one occasion. People pelted the firefighters with fireworks. “Nevertheless, all emergency workers were generally able to do their jobs safely,” said the mayor.
This is due in part to the efforts of municipal and police personnel in the run-up to New Year’s Eve, Jorritsma announced. “These efforts consisted of having conversations with young people, offering activities to young people, but also warning them of the consequences of exhibiting misbehavior before and during the New Year.”
Fireworks incidents
On the Eve of New year, there were almost 200 recorded incidents. In 2019, before the corona crisis, there were 171 incidents, and last year, 2020, there were only 136 accidents. “The incidents mainly involved the setting off of fireworks, arguments, and noise pollution,” explains Jorritsma.
“Fortunately, the number of fireworks victims was not so bad, the hospitals in the region took care of five fireworks victims. One fireworks victim got treatment at the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven,” Jorritsma reports. All in all, there were fewer reports of fireworks nuisance this year than in previous years.
Disappointing collection campaign
People could hand in fireworks at the municipality. The municipality collected 15.5 kilos of fireworks. According to Jorritsma, this is considerably less than in surrounding municipalities. “It is disappointing as we saw many fireworks set off in our city.”
Source: www.studio040.nl
Translation: Chaitali Sengupta
