Fireworks accident at ballpark

After a sterling second-place finish at the World Baseball Championships in Havana, Panama’s national baseball team made it to the second round of the Western Hemisphere’s Olympic qualifying tournament here, only to be eliminated by Puerto Rico. But that’s just a sporting event. Far worse is the fate of 42-year-old Ricardo Vega, who at the time this issue was uploaded was comatose and in critical condition due to a fireworks accident at the November 5 game between Panama and the United States at the National Stadium.

While the national anthems were being played before the game, fireworks were being shot off from a battery of six launching mortars, which were placed next to one another atop the ground, and which were all simultaneously loaded. One of the rockets exploded in its tube, scattering the other mortars and setting off the rockets within. Some of the missiles hit the bleachers at the Little League field, some landed in the National Stadium’s outfield, and one flew into the stands behind third base, injuring 14 people, most seriously Vega, who took the rocket’s impact in his chest, and 11-year-old Carlos Julio, who suffered burns over about 30 percent of his body after the firework exploded. Of those who were hurt, 10 had to be hospitalized. But that only happened after a delay of nearly 30 minutes because ambulances were prevented from arriving at the scene by parked cars blocking access to the field.

As part of the Moscoso administration’s general drive to dominate the limelight during the centennial festivities, control of this tournament was wrested from FEDEBEIS, the national baseball federation that’s headed by PRD legislator Franz Wever and given to Second Vice-President Dominador Kaiser Bazán. Security for the event, and control of traffic around the site, was in the hands of the National Police, who answer to their chief Carlos Barés and his boss, Government and Justice Minister Arnulfo Escalona. The organization headed by Kaiser Bazán hired a private company, Pirotecnica de Guarare, SA, to do fireworks displays for the game, launching the rockets from tubes set up near the Little League field that’s just beyond the stadium’s outfield fence. Meanwhile the police allowed a number of cars to park so as to block the only ambulance entrance to the stadium’s field, which is through a gate in the right center field fence.

Although it was later claimed that fire inspectors had approved the fireworks operation and it was merely an unfortunate accident at a well run operation, in most places that regulate fireworks launching tubes must be buried in the ground and spaced far enough from one another precisely so that a chain of explosions as happened here can be prevented.

Neither Kaiser Bazán, the National Police nor stadium authorities have explained why people were allowed to block emergency access to and egress from the field, a situation that was in plain view of most people at the ball game. There were no arrests made, nor were there even tickets issued, for blocking the ambulances.

Several days after the accident, Kaiser Bazán told La Prensa that a collection was being taken for Mr. Vega. If the fireworks company or the stadium had insurance to cover the accident, nobody was stepping forward to defray the Vega family’s losses.

Meanwhile, no public official has resigned or been disciplined in connection with the incident and the Moscoso administration is admitting no error of any sort.

After the delay caused by the accident, the game was played and the US beat Panama 3-0.

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Baseball tournament marred
by fireworks accident

sports

Baseball tournament marred by fireworks accident

Baseball tournament marred
by fireworks accident