I thought it had been reported that the injuries 'were not serious' ...probably more mental than physical...?
Exactly. There are loads of these things set off in Europe with no problems and no one unable to breathe and all the rest of it. Look forward to the SMG telling the Turks that standing up is dangerous, jumping up and down is very dangerous and standing up in the steep, massively high WestUpper is positively life threatening and any movement could lead to surges, people falling over the edge and utter carnage.
They said minor injuries, which could mean any number of things, but I suspect in this case it was nothing really. It really reeks of the police force trying to spin this incident to make a political point. They'll have known that by saying someone suffered minor injuries and saying flare, people will assume the kid was burned. As I understand it that's basically impossible with these smoke bombs people take to football, but there's so much narrative around "flares" that I think most people wouldn't know that.
'The seven-year-old fan received treatment at the scene after the incident involving a fellow away supporter and was able to return to watch the remainder of the game' From HDM Quoted / linked above somewhere....
Haha, I’m still in the hole though. Awaiting a release date. First thing I did when I could get to my phone after surgery was that extensive MDT. It deserved the recognition.
No idea how many, but matches have been abandoned in Turkey, Poland, Slovakia, Russia, Belgium, France, Greece and Italy due to flares, mainly because of fans throwing them. Some dozy bastard managed to set one off in his own face in Scotland and got bad burns due to wearing a balaclava at the time and a bloke at a Rangers game lost half a hand when one he was holding exploded.
My Daughter had a firework land on her when she was three. It melted her jacket. We couldn’t get her to go to a firework display again after that. The thing is that she could not have know what happened as it landed on her back and she never felt it or even saw it. What actually scared her was the commotion and reaction of people which she then associated with bon fire night. I don’t like smoke bombs or flares, never have never will. I do not think they are safe in any crowd. I know that I will struggle with breathing in the smoke as I always have whenever I have been in contact with them and as ex Army, that has been plenty of times. Smoke bombs in football crowds may well produce atmospheric conditions, but I also believe that they are a dangerous item that in the wrong hands can cause harm. The crusade regarding the young lad at Barnsley is however, disproportionate.
Same thing happened to me when I was a kid, a firework landed in the hood of my snorkel parka and I had no idea it was on fire until someone grabbed hold of me and ripped my coat off.
Junior Leaders Regt Royal Corps of Transport. 17 Port Regt RCT Joined at 15 made redundant at 21 after NI
I have COPD and they don’t bother me in an enclosed space never mind the open air so can’t see how they are such a problem in the open air to someone who was fit enough to have been in the forced.
That's a bit like me saying I have an allergy but because cats don't affect me then they shouldnt affect anyone....
Saw an amusing photo in Turkey recently. They banned glares in Turkish stadiums and there was a massive march with rival fans all joining together to protest. At the next Besiktas game there was a massive banner (you wouldn’t get one a tenth of the size into the MKM) and at each corner it was held by people with flares. No one died.