A 35-year-old man and a 19-year-old have died after a firecracker popularly known as ‘banger’ went off in their faces.
The incident which occurred in the German eastern state of Brandenburg during New Year celebrations also left a child injured and five persons requiring amputations, local police said.
The child, 11, was injured in the facial region by the fire cracker thrown by a group of youths, police said.
The Markische Allgemeine regional daily reported that the firecracker used contained more explosives then normally permitted in Germany and was purchased on the country’s border with Ukraine.