Fire breaks out at fireworks festival in Japan

Chaos erupted at a fireworks festival on the coast in the Japanese city of Yokohama, near Tokyo, on Monday evening after a fire broke out on the barges used to launch fireworks, writes UNN with reference to NHK.

Details

Police received calls from people who reported that two barges used to launch fireworks were on fire. The festival was held in the Minatomirai district of the city.

Five workers jumped into the sea and were rescued. One of them sustained minor injuries.

The event organizer told police that the fireworks launch system had malfunctioned.

According to Yokohama city officials, event staff tried to stop the system a minute after the fire broke out, but launches from the barge continued. According to officials, the system's computer was programmed to launch fireworks in sync with music.

The Japan Coast Guard reported that the fire was extinguished on Tuesday morning, approximately 15 hours after it broke out.

Police and the Coast Guard are investigating the incident.

As Reuters writes, according to police and coast guard officials, a fire broke out on two of the eight launch barges "after a firework fell on them."

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