Boing Boing
May 5 2012

Armenian political rally ends in tragedy when political hydrogen
balloons burst into flames

By Cory Doctorow at 11:56 am Saturday, May 5

144 people were burned at a political rally in the Armenian capital of
Yerevan last Friday when bunches of hydrogen balloons bearing
political slogans burst into flames. An Agence France-Presse story
without a byline reports:

`The balloons exploded and caught fire after people holding the
bunches released them from their hands into the air,’ a witness told
AFP.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosions although
police said they were looking into various potential reasons including
the `improper storage of flammable substances’.

…The promotional balloons were decorated with the governing party’s
election slogan `Let’s believe in change’.

Hydrogen balloons? Really? Is this a thing?