Hanoi’s 1000 year anniversary was anti-climatic at best. A couple days before the final night, the huge tanks storing the fireworks exploded. There were enough explosives to light the night sky for a full hour, in 19 seperate but it all exploded at once.
Offically, two Germans, a Singaporean, and presumably a Vietnamese person was killed in the explosion, but there were many more reported by the locals. The unofficial count is 37 people. The Vietnamese government have tried their best to keep this a secret, and in the aftermath immediately bought replacement fireworks. The led to outrage in the community due to the recent floods in the central region of Vietnam. The official budget for Hanoi’s 1000 year anniversary was $4 billion dollars, and before the explosion, not a penny went to central.
In response to public criticism, the government cut back on the fireworks, leaving only enough for one location in Hanoi, a staudium, as opposed the originally 19 planned. Instead, each region in central affected by the floods was given $100,000, enough to buy a back of cheetos for each person in the region.
The mayor was quoted complaining about having to give the money to central instead of spending more on firewords, which I’ll paraphrase: “In central, floods happen every year,” he said, “but Hanoi's 1000 year anniversary only happens once a millenium.”
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