A drone show in China has gone horribly wrong after hundreds of synchronised drones fell from the sky, starting fires.
The light show in Southern China has ended in chaos after hundreds of drones malfunctioned and fell from the sky during National Day celebrations.
The incident occurred last Thursday night in Liuyang, Hunan Province – a city known as China’s fireworks capital – during a large-scale performance combining fireworks and drones at the Sky Theatre.
Footage shared online shows the drones spiralling out of control and crashing into the ground, some bursting into flames and igniting fires.
Onlookers can be seen running for cover as sparks and debris fall around them, with some even using chairs to shield themselves.
According to local authorities, no one was injured, and firefighters quickly extinguished the fires.
Social media users were quick to compare the scenes to an apocalyptic movie.
“This is Straight out of ‘Armageddon’,” said one X user.
“Somebody is definitely getting fired over this,” joked another.
“So dangerous. It’s miraculous no one was injured,” weighed in a third.
The event, titled “October: The Sound of Blooming Flowers,” is intended to create a 3D visual display with the help of drones over land and the city’s river.
According to China Daily, in the first half of this year, the city held 26 fireworks shows, which attracted more than 1.5 million tourists and drove consumption by nearly 4 billion yuan ($842 million).
Just last year, a drone show in China’s mainland city of Quanzhou descended into chaos after more than 2000 drones went haywire, causing them to plummet towards crowds.
The show, which was hosted by local artist Cai Guo-Qiang, was aiming to present the history and culture of the region, but quickly turned into a nightmare as onlookers raced for cover.
