Thousands Flee Australia Fireworks Mishap

New Year's Eve went off with more than a blast than expected for thousands of Australians as a fireworks display went badly wrong. A barge carrying fireworks at Terrigal Beach, New South Wales caught fire soon after the display began, causing fireworks to go off at random, some of them toward the beach where families were watching, the BBC reports. Around 5,000 people were evacuated from the beach. 

Two pyrotechnicians that jumped off the barge and swam to safety were shaken but uninjured and there were no audience injuries reported, authorities say. Witnesses say there was "absolute chaos" as large amounts of fireworks suddenly started going off.

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