A fireworks and drone show in China’s Hunan province is going viral after a disastrous accident caused burning debris to fall from the sky onto spectators.
China is known for its jaw-dropping drone shows, going viral numerous times on social media for using the technology to create lavish displays in the shape of dragons, flowers, and more.
However, one drone show in the country transformed from a pleasant spectacle into a terrifying disaster that’s also making waves online, both on the mainland and abroad.
The experience, titled ‘October: The Sound of Blooming Flowers,’ used a combination of drones and fireworks to light up the night sky in various patterns of Chinese written characters and images to ring in the autumn season.
It was held in Liuyang, a city hailed for its pyrotechnics, where crowds of onlookers gathered on October 2 to watch the drones take flight.
Drone & firework combo show rains embers onto viewers
Things went wrong mere moments after the drones lifted into the air. As shown in several videos circling online, several of the drones seemed to veer off course, resulting in incomplete designs.
Fireworks had also been attached to the drones, causing sparks and embers to rain from the sky like tiny meteors as viewers watching below fled in a panic. The sparks ended up starting a few small ground fires, which news outlets say could have spawned a bigger blaze due to the dry climate at the time of the show.
Thus far, no official reason has been given as to why the malfunctions occurred, and no investigation into the incident has yet been brought forward by authorities.
Various news outlets report differing potential causes of the accident, with some across social media speculating that it could have been due to a malfunction of the central computer running the show.
Luckily, no one was harmed in the terrifying ordeal, and the blazes that resulted from the fiery rain were quickly extinguished.
Social media users couldn’t believe the footage from the incident, with one writing, “This looks like a start of the next phase of an Elden Ring boss fight.”
“It was going to happen at some point. They had a good run. I’ve seen many that were spectacular,” another remarked.
This isn’t the first drone show to go sideways in a dangerous way; five drone shows were canceled in the US this January after two drones collided mid-air, with one falling onto the chest of a seven-year-old child.
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