Cops thought illegal firework was terror attack device

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 31 - Italian police thought an illegal firework dubbed the President Bomb was a possible terror attack device since it contained only slightly less explosive material than an anti-tank device, Palermo prosecutors said Tuesday.
    The 'bomb' seized in the Sicilian capital as part of annual pre-New Year's Eve confiscation sweeps contained 200 grammes of high explosive compared to the 350 grammes of an anti-tank device, they said.
    The President Bomb has now joined the 'Sinner' Bomb as the two latest in a line of high-explosive New Year's fireworks, most invented in Naples.
    Italian police say the latter devastating device "shares the flame-red hair and explosive shots" of the tennis world number one from South Tyrol.
    The 'bomb' was seized in the home-cum-workshop of a 24-year-old man who had turned his residence into a powder keg and placed his neighbours, as well as an adjacent medical centre and school, at high risk, police said.
    Every year fireworks-mad Naples is the Italian city that has the most injuries, and sometimes fatalities, due to the NYE mayhem.
    The outrageous names of the most powerful fireworks are targeted at youthful noise-lovers.
    Last year the Kvara Bomb was named after the Georgia wing dribbling sensation who sent league leader Napoli's fans wild.
    The huge banger named after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia aka Kvaradona for his similarities to Diego Maradona, joined past notorious illegal Naples fireworks including the COVID Bomb, Cobra 7, the Rambo 1, the Uranus 2020, the Kamikaze, the Bin Laden Bomb, The Maradona Bomb, The Pope Bomb, Desert Storm, Red October, Turbo 3, The Spread, Maya and Insigne, after another past Napoli darling, Italy striker Lorenzo Insigne.
    Women in Naples got so fed up with their menfolk in 2008 that they launched a 'no sex if you let off fireworks' drive.
    The operation had some success as the number of injuries dropped by about 100.
    Many of the illegal fireworks sold in Italy are actually rudimentary bombs.
    Last New Year's Day hundreds of Italians were nursing burns and injuries and some lost fingers as a result of New Year celebrations with fireworks that went wrong.
    As the nationwide anti-explosive sweeps continued Tuesday, over a tonne of illegal fireworks were seized in Rome, 674 kg in the Reggio Calabria area, and a "mini-factory" near Cagliari where a 40-year-old man was arrested, police said.
    Fireworks have been banned in most Italian cities at the New Year but many Italians are expected to flout the bans.
    Naples has already given in to its citizens' noted inclinations and is not enforcing a ban. (ANSA).