Firework fans in Naples have named the latest addition to their New Year arsenal 'The Budget' because of its hard-hitting effect.
''It costs 250 euros and can blow up a whole building,'' said a doctor leading a prevention scheme in Italy's most firework-mad city.
Citing other holiday crowd-pleasers like the Bin Laden, the Ratzinger and the Maradona Bomb, Dr. Mariano Marmo said ''these are full-blown explosives''.
The latest rockets and firecrackers - now mostly made in China - are ''extremely dangerous'', he said.
Naples authorities are pulling out the stops to prevent casualties and have already seized some 1.2 tonnes of illegal fireworks.
''One stockpile was big enough, if it had gone off, to blow up the warehouse and severely damage the buildings around it,'' police said.
Thanks to a string of crackdowns and safety campaigns, injuries have been falling in recent years.
The last firework fatality was on New Year's Eve 2000.
Two people were killed last year and two the previous one - but both by shotguns.
Last year 55 people were wounded or maimed, compared to 60 in 2005.
Most of the victims are youngsters. The luckier ones get burned. Others have fingers or larger parts of limbs removed.
''We tackle injuries comparable to those inflicted by anti-personnel devices,'' said Dr Umberto Passaretti, head of the hand surgery department at a city hospital.
Police are optimistic they can stop The Budget and similar devices spreading.
But the most powerful fireworks are often sold at the last minute, just before firework vendors pack up their stalls on New Year's Eve.
