Firework death horror
Briton is killed in Thailand as giant rocket explodes in face
A BRITISH man was killed on the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Day when a huge firework exploded in his face.
Gary McLaren, 50, had planned to see in the new decade with his Thai fiancee and friends in the party resort of Pattaya.
Mr McLaren, originally from Corby in Northamptonshire, left the Miami A Go Go bar to light a 20-inch cardboard tube packed with fireworks.
Onlookers said his initial attempt failed but he succeeded on a second attempt, causing smoke to pour out of the tube.
The firework then exploded, knocking him to the ground.
Police and medics were called and performed chest compressions on Mr McLaren, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Bar worker Wassana Ngontai said: ‘I saw the man try to set off the firework. He tried to do it two times. The first time didn’t work.
The second time, smoke came out. The man didn’t move, then there was a big explosion in his face and he fell back.’
Another witness Nopparat Munprom, 31, added: ‘I saw that the firework was lit but the man did not move. He stayed looking at it. I said in Thai, “the firework is working already, you have to move”, then I shouted, “no, no, no, no, you can’t do that” and started to walk out. Then the firework exploded in his face.’ A video posted online shows Mr McLaren’s partner, named only as Jasmine, weeping and hugging his body.
Sharing a photo on Facebook after the accident, she wrote: ‘This is [our] last picture, honey, you will be in my heart for ever.’
A Thai police spokesman said last night: ‘Around midnight, Mr McLaren attempted to light up a large firework but it failed to go off at first. After that, it suddenly exploded and killed him at the scene.’
Mr McLaren had been an engineer with the Suzuki team in the Moto GP motorcycle racing league and was a member of the International Road-Racing Teams Association.
He studied at Tresham College, near Kettering, before moving to Thailand. He had visited relatives in the UK only last month.