Bonfire Celebration May be Extinguished Following Burns Disaster

Bonfire Celebration May be Extinguished Following Burns Disaster

A traditional Bonfire night celebration may come to an end after two men suffered serious burns in a tar barrel explosion.

According to the BBC, the event involves flaming tar barrels being carried through Ottery St Mary in Devon and has been ongoing since the 17^th Century. It attracts as many as 20,000 people to the town.

However, according to police one of the crowd appears to have thrown an aerosol in to a barrel, causing an explosion. One of the men suffered serious facial burns and another received burns to his hand. In addition, a further 10 people received minor burn injuries.

Police have yet to identify the culprit who caused the incident and organisers are concerned that they will struggle to obtain insurance for the event in future years if the perpetrator is not located.

Those injured at this event may be in a position to make a claim for injury against the organisers of the event if it is found that the precautions taken to try and avoid this kind of incident occurring were insufficient.

The barrels were soaked in tar and lit but clearly risk assessments must have been carried out by the organising committee to try and avoid any injury to participants in the Carnival or members of the public. If the assailant cannot be identified then in future it will be difficult for the organisers to put to their insurers that they are able to control outside influences such as this and the event may have to be shut down to prevent the possibility of a repeat occurrence and the risk of  further people suffering injuries.