No blame for fireworks explosion
November's fireworks disaster in Kolding was a pure accident, a police investigation concludes. The fireworks producer kept every regulation, and nobody will be charged in the case
A violent explosion and fire in a fireworks factory in November was nobody's fault, police investigators concluded Thursday. Kolding's N.P. Johansen Fireworks Factory followed every safety regulation, and police have decided to dismiss the case as an accident.
The fire killed one firefighter and injured six. All in all, 85 civilian, police officers and firefighters were taken to a hospital after the explosion on 3 November last year. The area was evacuated just before explosions razed an entire residential neighbourhood around the factory.
At the time, investigators said the factory might have been overstocked with fireworks at the time of the blast. Now, however, a police report cleared the factory and its employees.
If someone had been responsible for the accident, he might have been sued for damages.
Insurance companies say they have paid more than DKK 750 million to homeowners who lost their belongings in the explosion.
The investigators said the disaster could be traced to an incident where a worker accidentally dropped a box of fireworks into a container, causing an explosion and a fire in the rest of the factory.
Burning fireworks in the container lit a fire in another container, which exploded and caused the catastrophic fire over the next few hours.
The death of firefighter Max Jørgensen was explained as an industrial accident.