MOSCOW (Reuters) - Dozens of partygoers at an outdoor rave near Moscow last week have lost partial vision after a laser light show burned their retinas, Russian health officials said on Monday.
Moscow city health department officials confirmed 12 cases of laser-blindness at the Central Ophthalmological Clinic, and daily newspaper Kommersant said another 17 were registered at City Hospital 32 in the centre of the capital.
Attendees at the July 5 Aquamarine Open Air Festival in Kirzhach, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Moscow, began seeking medical help days after the show, complaining of eye and vision problems, health officials told Reuters.
"They all have retinal burns, scarring is visible on them. Loss of vision in individual cases is as high as 80 percent, and regaining it is already impossible," Kommersant quoted a treating ophthalmologist as saying.
Attendees said heavy rains forced organisers to erect massive tents for the all-night dance party, and lasers that normally illuminate upwards into the sky were instead partially refracted into the ravers' eyes.
"I immediately had a spot like when you stare into the sun," rave-attendee Dmitry told Kommersant.
"After three days I decided to go to the hospital. They examined me, asked if I had been at Open Air, and then put me straight in the hospital. I didn't even get to go home and get my stuff," he said.
Cosmic Connection, promoters of the Aquamarine rave, were unreachable and did not list contact numbers on their Web site.
Industry Web site www.laserfx.com said focused laser light can cause eye damage almost instantly.
The owner of a Moscow laser rental company told Reuters the accidental blindings were due to "illiteracy on the part of technicians".
"It was partly the rain, but also partly the size of the laser. Somebody set up an extremely powerful laser for such a small space," said Valentin Vasiliev, who said his company did not provide the Aquamarine lasers.
djcami
tragic, up to 80% loss of vision. can't imagine
2tall
that's why we don't see the lasers pointed at crowds in the US. so highly regulated that no one ever bothers. i would have also said that such regulations were BS/paranoid, but i guess it just takes an incident like this to validate the reasoning.
smeagol zot
this is crazy :wtf:
datfinesoul
:nervous: that's totally sad, losing your vision at an event that was probably supposed to be all about good vibes.
alan
just to even use a laser in a club here, you have to get permits
KrisSC2000
I read this online earlier this morning from another source (I think I read it from Drudge) and it said that it was a green laser that cuased the damage. I immediately started thinking of the green laser at Vanguard. Granted its higher up, but is the sam ekind of laser that could cause vision loss? YIKES. I feel so badly for the Russians who have lost most of their sight as that would just be horrible. Poor people :(
2tall
I was just reading up some more on the US laser regulations (because i'm a geek like that):
quote:
If lasers are used outdoors, then the appropriate aviation authority (FAA in the U.S., CAA in the U.K.) must be notified. In the U.S. this is required even if the beams are terminated on nearby buildings. The aviation authority will review the show and (hopefully!) will issue a letter of non-objection to the show performance.
...
This is why laser shows with audience scanning, that may be common in Europe or Asia, have until recently (2007) been very rare in the United States. Companies in the U.S. need to provide federal regulators with more stringent proof that their equipment and procedures are safe.
...
One of the variance conditions is that the beams are kept 3 meters (10 feet) above where the audience can stand, and 2.5 meters (8 feet) laterally from where the audience could reach out. Performers can have lasers on them under specified conditions. But in the U.S., audiences cannot normally be exposed to direct or reflected laser light.
...
Some people falsely believe that deliberate audience scanning is banned in the U.S., or that there are differences between U.S. light levels and overseas light levels. These statements are untrue. Audience scanning is legal in just about every country -- including the U.S. Safe and unsafe exposure levels are about the same in every country.
...
However, U.S. regulators insist on extra safety measures such as redundant backups and detailed analyses. This is why there are only a few approved U.S. variances for deliberate audience scanning. (For example, at LDI 2007 in Orlando, ILDA will demonstrate safe, legal audience scanning.) Most overseas regulators do not require the same level of redundancy and caution as U.S. regulators. This explains why U.S. viewers have not been treated to the spectacular beauty of laser beams, until the recent (2006) approval of FDA-reviewed audience-scanning techniques.
