Four people were killed and more than 800 injured during Italy's New Year celebrations, many of them in accidents involving fireworks.
Two people died and 15 were hurt in Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples, when an explosion gutted an apartment. Another person died in the southern port town of Brindisi and a fourth in the northern city of Treviso.
In Bologna, a firework explosion blinded a 25-year-old man in one eye while another had to have his hand amputated.
In December, police published firework safety guidelines and seized illegally stored explosives to try to limit end-of-year casualties.
On New Year's Eve in central Rome, police struggled to stop people lighting fireworks in crowded piazzas but the sound of exploding crackers rattled the city throughout the night.
AFP