New Year's Eve: Melbourne man injured after firework explodes in his face
Updated
Three Victorians have been injured by illegal fireworks while celebrating New Year's Eve, including a man who was burnt after fireworks exploded in his face, police say.
Key points:
- Three men were injured while handling illegal fireworks
- A teenager was taken to hospital after falling three metres from a roof
- Police praised the behaviour of NYE revellers, despite an increase in arrests
A 34-year-old man seriously injured his hand in Caroline Springs, in Melbourne's west, when the firework he was holding exploded about 10:30pm.
A 42-year-old man from Brunswick West also injured his hand while lighting an illegal firework.
A third man, in his 30s, suffered burns after a firework exploded in his face at Melton shortly before 12:30am.
He was flown to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
In Melbourne's south-east, a woman in her late teens was injured after she fell off the roof at Ashburton Primary School, where she and others were trying to get a better view of the city's fireworks.
Emergency services said she fell three metres onto a basketball court and was taken to the Alfred Hospital with back injuries, where she was in a stable condition.
Police said they were mostly pleased with crowd behaviour across the state, despite the injuries and an increase in arrests compared to last year.
"Generally, we saw great behaviour by the crowds overnight, which was encouraging," Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp said in a statement.
"There were a small number of people who did the wrong thing but they were dealt with by police so they didn't spoil it for others."
Police arrested 238 people in total, including:
- 99 people for drunkenness
- 22 for drug-related offences
- 23 for assault
- Seven for behavioural offences
- Three for theft
A year ago, police made 183 New Year's Eve arrests, including 110 for drunkenness.
Topics: crime, law-crime-and-justice, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, community-and-society, arts-and-entertainment, events, carnivals-and-festivals, melton-3337, brunswick-west-3055, caroline-springs-3023, melbourne-3000, ashburton-3147, vic
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