A New Year’s Eve fireworks display went wrong on a beach in Australia, injuring two people and terrifying revelers.
Social media posts show footage of the 9pm family session of fireworks going wrong at Terrigal Beach on the central coast of the state of New South Wales.
#PMLNYE
Barge caught on fire at terrigal beach and big explosion occurred pic.twitter.com/5gJbl36ykX— Emilie Shapiro (@emilie1002) December 31, 2017
Police said that a barge caught fire during the 9:oo p.m. fireworks. The fire set off a slew of explosions as multiple fireworks ignited at once, reported the ABC.
Video shows some kids screaming and running away, while others commented was “that supposed to happen?” as the fireworks went ballistic.
Terrigal Firework disaster #2017 #HappyNewYears 7NewsSydney ABC 9NewsSyd pic.twitter.com/yDyw67t6tN
— Grayson Fenton-Wells (@gfentonwells) December 31, 2017
“We were front row on the beach, was very scary for my two boys and trying to grab all our stuff and the kids and get up the beach with the crowds. Fireworks were just randomly going off,” said one woman after the incident on the Facebook page of the Central Coast Express Advocate. “Hope the two guys that were onboard [the barge] got off in time to have no serious injuries.”
The greatest this to happen to Terrigal since 1974 pic.twitter.com/dt51XJj9de
— Zac Rowley (@ZacRowley) December 31, 2017
Two men operating the fireworks were reported to have suffered minor injuries and some 5,000 – 6,000 revelers needed to evacuate the beach.
Despite it all, people still had fun on the night.
“It was an awesome night, despite the fact my daughter thought the world was coming to an end. Well done to everyone involved,” said one Facebook user.
Caught the moment of the explosion and the barge caught on fire. Everyone started screaming and running while evacuating after this. damn terrigal fireworks ? #NYE pic.twitter.com/VfJGLxYfnh
— Jess Winley (@jesswinley) December 31, 2017
Local community group Time For Terrigal, which organized the fireworks as part of their New Year’s Eve celebrations, said that it is believed that an ordinance exploded in a firework canister which caused multiple detonations.