A New Year's tree burned down in the Sverdlovsk region because of fireworks

A New Year's tree burned down due to fireworks in the town of Lesnoy in the Sverdlovsk region. The video of the incident on January 1 is at the disposal of "Izvestia".

In the footage you can see that people set up pyrotechnics a few meters from the tree. One of the volleys hit the Christmas tree, after which it was instantly engulfed by fire.

Officially, the city authorities banned festive fireworks on New Year's Eve.

Valery Gorelykh, head of the press service of the regional department of the Russian Interior Ministry, told Izvestia that the incident, according to preliminary data, occurred because of a violation of the rules for the use of pyrotechnic products. The fireworks were launched by a man whose identity is being established.

"Probably, in a hurry, the citizen put the box with fireworks on an uneven surface without making sure of its safety, which most likely led to serious consequences. From the first shots the box fell down, and all the subsequent charges flew not into the air, as they should, but towards the city's ornate artificial Christmas tree. It immediately burst into flames," said Gorelykh.

The damage amounted to more than 600 thousand rubles. A police investigative and operational team traveled to the scene of the incident. In the coming days, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will make a decision on the results of the inspection.

Earlier in the day in Krasnogorsk near Moscow, a car with fireworks inside drove into the oncoming lane, collided with another car and caught fire. According to the inquirer, the driver may have been in a drunken state. After the accident, he fled. Because of the incident, traffic towards the Moscow region was blocked.