8-Year-Old London Hasidic Girl Burned by Fireworks Shot at Jewish Children
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
— A haredi Orthodox girl, 8, suffered burns to her leg after a group of teenagers in London shot fireworks at her and other Jewish children.
Fire from the explosive also damaged the clothes of the girl, a visitor from Canada. The girl’s parents filed a complaint with the police in east London.
Surveillance video footage showed the loitering teens aiming the fireworks at the young Jews.
London Metropolitan Police told the London-based Jewish Chronicle that it was not treating the incident as a hate crime and no arrests had been made. The children were identifiably Jewish.
“It is an offense to throw or let off a firework in a street or public place, and this incident demonstrates the dangers of doing so,” a policeman said in a statement.
A video of the incident was released by the London Shomrim, a Jewish volunteer security organization.
A year ago, the 8-year-old son of a Hasidic rabbi died after he was hit by a car as he fled fireworks being aimed in his direction.
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