EL SALVADOR: Balls of fire light up Salvadoran night sky in annual festival

Record ID: 785338

  • Title: EL SALVADOR: Balls of fire light up Salvadoran night sky in annual festival
  • Date: 7th September 2008
  • Summary: BALLS OF FIRE BEING THROWN MARKING OPENING OF FESTIVAL PARTICIPANT PARTICIPANT ON FIRE VARIOUS OF FIRE BALLS BEING THROWN
  • Embargoed: 22nd September 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: El Salvador
  • Country: El Salvador
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA6M58B2V7ZCUT7JEWXC95E0RH3
  • Story Text: Young men throwing fiery, gasoline-soaked rags at one another in the streets is not usually a religious rite; but in El Salvador the practice has become an annual church occasion.
    Local residents in the town of Nejapa (located some 30 kilometres north of San Salvador) gather every August 31st to hurl fireballs at one another in honour of a huge volcanic eruption in 1922 that forced all of the residents to abandon the town.
    The fireballs are used because locals say the hot lava that flowed from the volcano was actually the local Christian Saint Jeronimo fighting the devil with balls of fire.
    The fireball hurling is meant to remember the old town which was destroyed.
    "When the San Salvador volcano erupted, balls of fire destroyed what was once Nixapa, now Nejapa," said Alex Nerio.
    The festivities have been going on for over a decade and consists of opposing groups launching palm-sized fireballs at each other.
    Authorities fear the festival might one day get out of hand because there are no rules, but despite the apparent dangers, few serious injuries have been reported.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register