ROI ET: 1 dead, 16 injured as fireworks rocket crashes into noodle stall

One man was killed and 16 people injured yesterday when a fireworks rocket crashed on them while they were eating noodles in a shop in the province's Phanom Phrai district.

The rocket was launched at a nearby fireworks fair, police said.

Boonmee Sudadej, 44, died when she was struck by the rocket, which was about 30 metres above the ground when it exploded, broke in half and came crashing down on the noodle shop, police said.

--Agencies 2004-06-03

Allah Aqbar !!!

I was at the boon bon fi (spelling ?) festival near Yasathon when this happened, they were firing two types of rocket. One set were like SAM missiles, 2m long and reaching 100's of metres in seconds. It was one of these that went off laterally and killed the person.

The other type were set off from metal and wooden vertical ramps. About 8m tall with a huge bamboo guide. The actual black powder (?) rocket was at least 2.5 meters long.

The larger kind were really a sight to watch take off. Like watching something from Nasa but bloody dangerous. One exploded on the gantry and another exploded in mid air raining down burning powder and moulten plastic on the crowd.

My wife nearly had a heart attack because she was holding our little boy. We were told that three people died on the day, not just one. But we left after the second explosion.

We were also told that the syndicates that build these weapons have to pay for the damage they cause. And I believe that a 10m bamboo pole falling from 300m would do a lot of damage.