Fig 1: Homemade salute gun
Fig 2: Semi-digested chyme within the upper airways
Fig 3: Gunpowder tattooing within brain tissue
Fig 4: Facial blast injury with gunpowder tattooing

Source (www.sciencedirect.com )

On New Year's Eve, a 33-year old hobby pyrotechnician sustained a lethal craniofacial trauma secondary to a salute fireworks blast. According to bystanders, he was examining a misfire of a self-constructed salute gun when it suddenly detonated, causing an explosive rupture of his forehead, which led to his immediate death. An autopsy was performed to achieve knowledge of the injury and to be able to reconstruct the events that lead to it.

Salute gun firing is a Bavarian tradition from the 14th century. On special occasions gunpowder has been fired for celebrations of victory or peace, today it has mainly entertainment value and is, among others, quite popular on New Year's Eve celebrations and marriages.

The equipment used was a self-constructed salute device composed of a platform with five iron tubes soldered on it [Fig. 4]. Each compartment was filled with 50-55g black powder, which was stuffed with newspaper and had a detonation device at the bottom.

The autopsy revealed a complete destruction of the forehead with multiple lacerations of face and scalp, with comminuted fractures of the calvarium, skull base, and facial bones [Fig. 1]. The cranial vault was mainly empty with an avulsion of the cerebrum with the cerebellum and brainstem remaining in place and intact. The whole facial skin showed multiple point- and line-shaped black powder fragments, so-called powder [or blast] tattoos [Fig. 1]. Additionally, cutaneous and conjunctival powder burns could be seen in both eyes.

Further gunpowder fragments were embedded in the anterior parts of the cerebrum, which was ejected from the skull by the initial blast wave and was enclosed with the corpse [Fig 2].

The upper part of the respiratory tract, [e.g.,] the larynx and upper part of the trachea, was almost entirely blocked with semi-digested chyme [Fig. 3].

[Not specifically addressed within the case report, but it would appear the primary blast effect, which acts strongly on gas-containing organs (e.g., lungs, stomach, GI tract), produced a rapid pressure spike that compressed the abdomen and stomach, resulting in a violent upward displacement of the gastric contents (e.g., chyme). Due to the simultaneous explosion of the head, normal airway protective mechanisms (e.g., epiglottic function, vocal cord closure, and the cough reflex) would have been disrupted or rendered ineffective, allowing the chyme to enter and fill the upper airway.]

The pressure effect of the explosion caused a shredded rupture of the forehead with a regional spread of brain tissue and small polygonal skull fragments up to 30m from the detonation site. The complete destruction of the forehead in combination with the multiple blast tattooing suggested that the explosion detonated while he was leaning over the device.

Caption has been compiled from the published case report, edited for clarity and grammar. Bracketed, italicized additions are my personal thoughts.

Source: Kunz, S. N., Zinka, B., Peschel, P., & Fieseler, S. (2011). Accidental head explosion: An unusual blast wave injury as a result of self-made fireworks. Forensic Science International, 210(2011), e4 - e6. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.04.013


"Primary or blast wave injuries are a direct effect of the intense over- or under pressurization impulse created by the detonation. These blast waves are being reinforced and reflected at tissue density interfaces and typically lead to damages of air-filled organs and air-fluid interfaces.

Penetrating trauma from flying debris and bomb fragments rate among secondary injuries.

In our case only primary and secondary injuries were detected. The blast wave itself caused the described injury of the forehead with correlating injuries to the skull, brain and facial tissue. The intense burnmarks and embedding of black gunpowder into the facial tissues and parts of the cerebrum were caused by incompletely burnt powder fragments and are seen as secondary injuries" (Kunz et al., 2011, e6).