New Year’s Eve: Three dead as celebrations turn to tragedy

TWO men have died in firework-related incidents as New Year’s Eve celebrations turned to tragedy, while another plunged to his death.

TWO men have died in firework-related incidents as New Year’s Eve celebrations turned to tragedy while another plunged to his death.

A man was killed after being hit in the head by a firework on the NSW Central Coast.

Police believe the 52-year-old man was trying to light the firework about 3am at Budgewoi Beach when he was struck and suffered a serious head injury.

Despite the efforts of friends and emergency services at the scene, the 52-year-old man could not be revived.

The scene at Budgewoi Beach where a man has died after he was struck by a firework. Picture: David Cleverly

The death follows that of a 46-year-old man in another fireworks incident at Hollands Landing east of Melbourne on New Year’s Eve.

Victoria Police spokesman Thomas O’Byrne told the Herald Sun a 46-year-old Springhurst man died in Gippsland after he was injured by fireworks.

Officers were called to an area adjacent to the beach near Rae St, Hollands Landing about 9.35pm, however the man died at the scene.

An arson chemist is set to visit the scene on Sunday morning to further investigate the incident.

Two people are also being treated for facial injuries, caused by fireworks overnight.

A man in his 20s suffered facial burns when he was hit with a firecracker in Drouin, 90 kilometres east of Melbourne.

A teenager was also hit in the face with fireworks in South Morang in Melbourne.

In Cobram, North East Victoria, three men aged in their 20s were taken to hospital after an aerosol can exploded on a fire.

AAP reports a teen was also flown to hospital after a suspected drug overdose in Lorne, a Victorian seaside town.

Another man in his 40s was taken to hospital in Melbourne after he fell three metres from a lamp post on Princes Bridge, over the Yarra River.

Paramedics were called to around 100 incidents in the Melbourne CBD overnight.

Distraught friends and family at Budgewoi Beach where a man has died. Picture: David Cleverly

While police have mostly given Sydneysiders a tick of approval for their behaviour, which was free of major incidents, the night was not without trouble.

Police are also investigating after a man died in Balmain, in the city’s inner west.

About 9.40pm they were called to Darling St after reports of a man atop a building.

He fell and died at the scene.

In Parramatta, in Western Sydney, a man was seriously injured in a fight on Belmore St.

Police say the victim, 36, and a 24-year-old had left a party at a nearby unit when they began to argue.

The 36-year-old was taken to Westmead Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition.

Another man is also in a critical condition after falling off the tray of a truck.

The man fell off the truck in Kent Street in the Sydney CBD about 9.30pm and fractured his skull. He was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital.

— with news.com.au

Originally published as New Year’s Eve: Three dead as celebrations turn to tragedy