BERLIN – had realized that something was wrong, that their “chinese lanterns” they must have done some damage. So, when a woman of 60 years and his two grown daughters have presented to the commissioner of Krefeld, the police quickly found the explanation, and presumed guilty for the disaster of the zoo went up in smoke. The three women, say the agents, they did not know that chinese lanterns are banned in North Rhine-Westphalia, and almost the whole of Germany since 2009 (even if the sale is still free), and had no idea of the catastrophe provoked by their celebration of the end of the year.
The agents have shown in a press conference a few pieces of the lanterns, found in the midst of the remains of the House of the monkeys, where at least thirty primates have died in the flames, among them five orang-utan of Borneo, a chimpanzee of west Africa, and the two gorillas of the plains. The economic damage is estimated at several million, the women face up to five years in prison.
The chinese lanterns or Kong Ming, like a ball of paper is very light, mounted on a rigid structure, with a lighted candle in the bottom. To allow the flight is the same principle of the hot air balloon: the hot air of the door at the top, up to 800 metres. The candle remains lit until 30 minutes, then, when the wax runs out, the lantern glides slowly towards the ground. The material itself is not dangerous, but of course, once launched, the lantern can no longer be controlled. At that point, just when a gust of wind to change the trajectory and maybe cause a crash: if the ground with the lit candle encounters flammable materials, it is easy to cause a fire.
For this, several Countries forbid the use, or govern very strictly. In Italy it was a chinese lantern launched by two women in love to ignite the fire that has devastated 160 hectares of forest in the municipality of San Marcello in Tuscany, in December of 2016. The incident in Krefeld has reopened fierce controversy in the federal Republic, where the debate on fireworks this year was very turned on. Several cities have imposed the prohibition at least partial.
The tradition of the “barrels” of new year’s Eve is traced back to the idea of driving away evil spirits, to propitiate the arrival of the new year. The danger in the use of explosive materials, for example there has always been, and every year at the beginning of January, the bulletin of the ready relief to confirm this. Recently, however, has strengthened the consciousness that the fireworks show is highly polluting for the massive production of particulate matter. In Germany, where the passion for rockets and barrels is rooted as in the south of Italy, the newspapers popular rode on the controversy, showing the photos of the buyers, someone proud to have spent even 2500 euro in light and noise. But now seems the time to close the tradition: a YouGov poll for the agency Dpa has confirmed that the majority of the germans is now favourable to the total ban.
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