Shocking footage has emerged of a firework blowing up in a man’s face amid disorder on Bonfire Night.
The incident, which was captured on Tuesday night, is understood to have happened in the Gracemount area of Edinburgh. In the clip, which was shared with Edinburgh Live, the man can be seen biting on to the end of the pyrotechnic as he aims it at the sky.
As it flares up, a nearby onlooker shouts “go on”. Within seconds, sparks fly into the man’s face and those around scream. The man can be seen holding a drink in his hand, with the footage appearing to have been taken in a park. His condition is currently unknown. Police Scotland have been asked for comment.
Elsewhere, Bonfire Night chaos saw cars smashed and a firework posted through a letterbox. Footage also showed a group of around 20 young people jumping on a vehicle in Edinburgh before smashing its windscreen with a shovel.
Meanwhile, youths with ‘bats and clubs’ stormed the Hyundai forecourt on Calder Road in the capital. A clip from the scene showed cars with their windows smashed and some with doors open after the business was targeted.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, who were tackling the issues, says two firefighters were attacked on Tuesday night in the capital. One was also targeted in West Lothian.
Officers from Police Scotland, however, say serious incidents fell compared to last year. Specialist resources were dispatched on 26 separate occasions in Scotland amid Operation Moonbeam by Police Scotland. This year, 18 deployments were needed in the same period.
Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs, Gold Commander of Operation Moonbeam said: “I firstly want to recognise the outstanding courage and professionalism of all of those emergency service workers who put themselves in harm’s way to keep communities safe. Their actions ensured that some of the challenging scenes we witnessed this year did not escalate into mass disorder, on the scale of what we experienced last year.
“Nevertheless, the levels of violence and aggression police officers, fire service and ambulance service personnel faced in some areas was wholly unacceptable and a significant investigative response is now underway to identify each and every one of those involved and bring them to justice.”
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