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legal focus
16 | Touchline issue 22 | November 2015
A fireworks stunt that went "catastrophically"
wrong at an All Blacks game has cost a pyrotechnics
company $100,000.The display shot shrapnel at
the 50,000-strong crowd as they gathered for the
Bledisloe Cup test, injuring three spectators who
suffered permanent scars.
It was "clearly good luck" that more people weren't
injured, or even killed, Judge Grant Fraser told the
Auckland District Court as the responsible company,
Waikato-based business Van Tiel Pyrotechnics,
appeared in October for sentencing.
The business earlier pleaded guilty to seven charges
laid by WorkSafe, a lead charge under the Health
and Safety Act of failing to take all practicable steps
to ensure no action or inaction of any employee
harmed any person, and six under the Hazardous
Substances and New Organisms Act, including failing
to ensure hazardous substances were correctly
identified.
The court heard the company, headed by director
Martin Van Tiel, was contracted by the New Zealand
Rugby Union (NZRU) to create 12 fireballs around
the field, with one directly behind the All Blacks
due to light up as the team finished the haka.The
fireballs were created from a device that charged
fuel in plastic mortars, igniting the firework upwards.
On the day, the fuel the company usually used
had run out and another pyrotechnic fuel called
'the red star' was used, grabbed from a bucket
with a handwritten label. The red star had a higher
explosive classification but wasn't properly identified
on the label.
Once compressed into the mortar, the mix became
contaminated and instead of shooting upwards, it
exploded inside the mortar, sending metal pieces,
including a 30cm spike, flying into the crowd,
according to the summary of facts. Three spectators
were hit in the face, including rugby fan Cecilia
Wang who required stitches to a 9cm gash on her
forehead. Another passed out after being struck.
All three victims had permanent scars and suffered
ongoing emotional harm from what they described
in victim impact statements as a "nightmare".
PYROTECHNICS COMPANY FINED
FOR ALL BLACKS FIREWORKS
DISPLAY INJURIES
at risk
Beware of the selfie…..it can kill you!
Selfie-taking is now regarded as a dangerous sport
as it has so far claimed more lives in 2015 than shark
attacks. Twelve people have died so far this year as
they try to get the perfect photo, compared to eight
killed in shark attacks.
In September, a 66-year-old Japanese tourist died,
and his travel companion was injured, after he fell
down stairs while attempting to take a selfie at the
Taj Mahal.
Careless falls are the leading cause of 'selfie death',
followed by collision with a train. In other cases, a 21
year-old man was killed when he climbed onto the
top of a stationary train to take a selfie with friends
and accidentally touched a high-voltage power cable
running overhead, whilst a Polish couple living in
Portugal with their two young children stumbled
off a cliff edge while trying to take a selfie. The pair
fell hundreds of feet after apparently crossing a
safety barrier. Their two children, aged five and
six, witnessed the tragedy but were otherwise
unharmed.
Oscar Otero Aguilar accidentally shot himself dead
while posing for a selfie with a handgun. And a
Russian teenager who scaled a St Petersburg railway
bridge in a fatal attempt to take a spectacular
photo plummeted 30ft to her death after losing her
balance.
And in the US a woman died in a highway accident
just seconds after uploading a selfie of herself
enjoying Pharrell Williams' hit Happy on her car
stereo. The Independent reports that Courtney
Sanford's status declaring her love for the tune,
accompanied by a selfie taken at the wheel,
appeared on Facebook just one minute before police
received reports of a collision involving Sanford's
vehicle.
The selfie situation is so real, in fact, that Russian
police recently launched the world's first "safe selfie"
campaign. "A cool selfie could cost you your life," the
interior ministry warned in a brochure full of handy
tips, including "a selfie with a weapon kills."
SELFIES KILL MORE PEOPLE THAN
SHARKS