Vandalism and fireworks caused damage totalling over €7m during the New Year celebrations, the insurance association said on Friday.

The figures, which are preliminary, are done some €1m on 2008, the association said. In 2007, the damages bill totalled €12m, with an additional €20m in damage to schools.
Insurers had been worried about a new cause of fires – Chinese lanterns – which were responsible for for destroying an entire shopping centre in Limburg earlier this year. ‘But the damage was luckily limited,’ an association spokesman told Nos tv.