A British motorcycle-racing engineer died after fireworks bought on a Pattaya street exploded in his face.
Gary McLaren, 50, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident outside the Miami Go-Go bar around midnight.
Witness Wassana Nguantai, 24, told police she saw McLaren twice try to light the 50-centimeter tube of bottle rockets to no avail. The third time he tried, the entire tube exploded, causing massive injuries to his head.
McLaren of Corby, Northamptonshire worked on the tech staff of the International Road-Racing Teams Association in the United Kingdom having previously worked as a data acquisition engineer for Suzuki Motors Co.’s MotoGP team.
Both Suzuki and MotoGP put out statements offering condolences to the well-known racing paddock personality.
Illegal fireworks have been a chronic problem in Pattaya with police annually promising crackdowns and stricter enforcement, but vendors hawking untested explosives with unknown origins continue to flourish in the city.
Police confiscate the defective 50-centimeter rocket as evidence.
