Dubai Police destroy 54 tonnes of unlicensed fireworks this year

Dubai Police destroyed tonnes of fireworks this year, but denied that the people arrested were terrorists.

DUBAI // Dubai Police have destroyed 54 tonnes of fireworks this year but denied reports that they had arrested people plotting to use them in terror attacks.

In a interview with Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language sister newspaper of The National, Brig Gen Abdullah Ali Al Gaithi, deputy director of facilities protection and crisis administration for Dubai Police, said reports about the possibility of terrorists modifying fireworks for use in terrorist acts did not carry much weight.

Police are running campaigns about the dangers of fireworks with the customs and economic development departments and the General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science.

Campaigns are also carried out in schools and mosques.

Brig Gen Al Gaithi warned of the potential hazards from large fireworks packed into iron pipes, which can release dangerous metal shards.

Unlicensed fireworks have caused several deadly accidents in recent years. In 2008, two people died in an explosion at an unlicensed fireworks warehouse in Al Quoz.