TEEN ENGULFED IN FLAMES AT BONFIRE
Boy in critical condition after catching fire during celebrations
A TEENAGER was seriously injured after he “caught fire” at a bonfire on Sunday night.
Footage has appeared on social media of the incident at the Ballysillan pyre in North Belfast of a boy running away from the pyre engulfed in flames.
It is understood the 17-year-old suffered serious burns to the majority of his body and is in a critical condition in hospital.
The fire service have confirmed it was in attendance at the incident and helped the casualty until the ambulance service arrived at the scene. Police are appealing for information following the incident and are asking anyone with any details about it to contact them as soon as possible.
Supt Henry said: “Police received a report at around 12.30am that a male had sustained burn injuries.
“As a result of the incident, he sustained burns to his face and body.
“He remains in hospital for his injuries.
Our enquiries are continuing to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.
“We are aware that there were a number of people in the area at the time of the incident so we would appeal to them to come forward to assist with our enquiries.
“We are also aware of social media footage that has been posted online in relation to this incident.
“We would ask it not shared but to contact police with any information they might have.”
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said they have been extremely busy over the weekend dealing with emergency callouts.
From 6pm on the Eleventh Night to 2am yesterday, they received a total of 153 emergency calls and were mobilised to 105 incidents, 40 bonfire-related.
They have also seen an increase from July 9, with 378 calls from then until 2am on July 12 – 244 total mobilisations and 81 bonfire-related mobilisations.