Three-year-old Taher and two-year-old Aziza, his cousin, went to their grandfather’s house in Tobruk like on every Eid.  But, this time, the usually joyful holy celebration ended in tragedy.

“A young boy ran to me and said: ‘Taher and Aziza got burnt,’” remembered a family friend. “I was speechless and surprised but the boy continued with his stuttering voice ‘the garden of Sidi Ibrahim’s family is burning!’” 

Three-year-old Taher and two-year-old Aziza, his cousin, went to their grandfather’s house in Tobruk like on every Eid.  But, this time, the usually joyful holy celebration ended in tragedy.

“A young boy ran to me and said: ‘Taher and Aziza got burnt,’” remembered a family friend. “I was speechless and surprised but the boy continued with his stuttering voice ‘the garden of Sidi Ibrahim’s family is burning!’” 

“It was then that I knew that the congestion in the street, and the tent closing it were there because of the funeral of the two children who died when their grandfather’s house was burnt because of the firecrackers thrown by other children near flammable materials stored next to the power engine owned by Haj Ibrahim al-Mansouri’s family to provide it with electricity when there is power outages.”

Taher and Aziza are not the only two children who lost their lives as a result of such incidents.  There are tens of similar stories and disasters cause by fireworks, which enter the country under the state of chaos and the lack of security and are then sold at cheap prices tempting children to buy them for fun but end up injuring or killing them instead. 

Eid injuries

Dr. Ihab Ahmad, the head of emergency medicine at Tobruk medical center said that the number of accidents caused by fireworks during the feast days exceeded 28, among them were cases with 100% burns and resulted in immediate death.  He also said that there were some other serious and mild injuries but the most heinous was the incident that led to the death of two children: Taher and Aziz. 

Ahmad said most of the injuries received by the ambulance and emergency  centers during the Eid al-Adha were limbs injuries, stressing the seriousness of these injuries, especially in the fingers and thumbs because 70% of the hand functions depend on them and most injuries lead to amputation.

Economic crimes

In a statement by the head of the criminal investigation department at the Tobruk security department, lieutenant colonel Ibrahim Abdallah Abdul Jalil said: “The law bans the entry of fireworks into the country and selling them is punishable by the law,” referring to the economic crimes law. This contradicts the general perception that there is no law which bans the selling of fireworks.

“But it is still very difficult to enforce the law,” said Abdul-Jalil, “because the implementation of any security plan to end corruption and poison requires the cooperation of customs officials and municipal guards.  There is also a need for the involvement of civil society organizations and the media in spreading awareness and educating citizens to take responsibility for the safety of children.” 

Jalil also expressed regret at the absence of competent authorities at land, sea and air ports where these imported goods pass through without being confiscated or without punishing those who import them. 

Harsh environment

Daif Hassan Jibril, a Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Arts at University of Tobruk, said: “Children today have passion for violent and cruel games. This is unusual behavior but, under the conditions witnessed by the country and the sick social environment, such behavior has become widely practiced. 

Hassan confirmed that the situation is exacerbated when children experience violence in their lives, in cases of war such as the one witnessed in Libya. “The period of this war and violence was a long one and according to studies and research, it is difficult to change the social environment in such cases.”  

“The way the children are raised in our society, especially during the early years of their lives, is characterized by cruelty and violence.”

International reaction

 UNICEF condemned the accident that led to the death of Taher and Azizar. Qadriya Othman, the coordinator of UNICEF in Tobruk, said: “Greed, fast profits and the lack of care and attention by families have made our city witness a disaster. This issue should not go unnoticed. The brokers are publicly selling the lives of our children and their innocence is compromised while we are all sitting and watching.” 

Othman suggested launching protests to draw the attention of citizens about the dangers of fireworks threatening children.