A 46-year-old man who was badly injured in an accident involving fireworks on New Year’s Eve has died in hospital, Tiel town council has confirmed to local broadcaster Omroep Gelderland.

The man, who came from Buren, is the second person to die from a firework injury during the New Year festivities. A 14-year-old boy from Rotterdam died on December 31 while trying to light an extremely powerful and illegal firework.

Dozens of other people were seriously injured in the annual firework frenzy and 27 people were treated at Rotterdam’s specialist eye hospital – many of whom were bystanders.

The Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam mayors, and national police chief Janny Knol have all renewed calls for a national ban on fireworks.

Consumer fireworks are banned in 19 cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht, but the ban was widely ignored, and sales went ahead as usual.

“There is a ban in a number of areas but you can still buy them and they are still set off,” Knol said. “A ban would be a good first step.” Prime minister Dick Schoof has already made it clear the government has no plans to introduce legislation to stop the sale of fireworks to the general public.

Over 200 people were arrested during the evening and riot police were drafted in to restore order in several places, both cities and in rural areas.

The fire brigade also reports more call-outs than in previous years. “New Year is seen by some as a licence for anarchy and violence, but this is not what you sign up for as an emergency service worker,” said national fire chief Tijs van Lieshout van Brandweer Nederland.

In total, 270 cars were destroyed by fire, the highest figure since 2019.

Justice minister David van Weel described the targeting of emergency service workers as “extremely sad”.

“This behaviour should never be seen as normal and we are going to do all we can to arrest those responsible,” he said on social media.