Wedding horror as two die in firework explosion
GUESTS at a wedding reception fled in terror when fireworks stored in a shed exploded, killing two people.
Witnesses spoke of the ground shaking and flaming debris falling from the sky at the Lake District beauty spot.
The explosion happened as around 70 guests mingled in a marquee on the banks of Windermere, shortly after John Simpson, 61, and his bride Nicole Rothwell, 44, had posed for photographs.
One of the musicians, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It was a beautiful day and we were playing on the terrace just after the photographs were taken.
‘The bride was in her gown in the garden with the groom and the fireworks just started going off. The flaming debris was falling all around.
‘The firework display was spectacular, but we were wondering why it was being held in the bright daylight.
‘Then we realised something shocking had happened. We grabbed our instruments and ran.’
He added that everyone was in shock and the bride was ‘extremely upset’.
The area was evacuated and the celebration had to be cancelled as firefighters rushed to the reception.
Emergency services later recovered the bodies of a man and a woman, whose identities have not yet been released.
None of the guests at the wedding party is believed to be missing. Police refused to confirm whether the victims had been working at the event on Saturday in the garden of the couple’s lakeside home.
Neighbour Enid Battersby said: ‘All of a sudden, there was an enormous explosion. I have never heard anything like it since the blitz in Manchester.’
The dramatic scenes were
‘Like cannons going off’
also visible from the nearby Lake District Visitor Centre in Brockhole, which was packed with tourists enjoying the last weekend of the school holidays. Tourist Anthony Middleton was there with his family when they saw fireworks shooting into the sky. He said: ‘We heard this almighty explosion and the best way to describe that would be a series of earth- shaking cannons going off.
‘The ground was shaking. We realised something disastrous was happening.’
Stuart Halliwell, operations manager at the visitor centre, said that one of his staff helped to evacuate wedding reception guests from the scene.
He said: ‘It must have been awful for the couple on their special day.’
Mr Simpson and his bride were holding the reception in the grounds of their home at Ecclerigg when the fire started at around 3.30pm.
They are believed to have had a registry office ceremony earlier in the week. The groom is a partner in a local insurance company which he cofounded 30 years ago.
A fire service spokesman said four engines were sent to the scene to tackle the inferno. A nearby vehicle was also damaged by the blaze.
Cumbria Police said officers were called because a ‘shed containing fireworks was on fire’. ‘Two bodies, believed to be a male and a female, were found,’ said a police spokesman.
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Brown said that officers were still trying to examine the cause of the fire.
The bride and groom were unavailable for comment last night.