The seven-year-old that was hit in the face by a naval flare during the midnight mass on Easter Sunday has died of his injuries, doctors reported on Friday.
The boy was admitted to Agia Sophia children's hospital in central Athens with severe head trauma and facial injuries after a flare fired by a 25-year-old celebrating the Resurrection landed in the courtyard of the Church, near the boy's face.
The incident occurred in Drosia, Halkida where the young boy was attending church with his parents.
The 25-year-old man was placed under arrest and taken before a public prosecutor, who charged him with causing serious bodily harm, causing explosions and breaking laws on the use of fireworks.
Letting off flares and fireworks that are very often home-made, even firing shots in the air, is a custom associated with the Easter resurrection mass throughout Greece and one that often results in serious injuries and sometimes deaths every year.
ANA-MPA
