News

Dozens of Russians attending an outdoor rave near Moscow have suffered partial sight loss after a laser light show burned their retinas.

According to news agency Reuters, 12 cases of blindness caused by laser were confirmed at the city's ophthalmological clinic, with another 17 registered in a central hospital. The patients had all attended an open-air festival on July 5, and began seeking medical help days after the show complaining about vision problems. An ophthalmologist treating the party-goers told the newspaper Kommersant: 'They all have retinal burns, scarring is visible on them. Loss of vision in individual cases is as high as 80 per cent and regaining it is already impossible.'

With heavy rain the festival's organisers erected tents to host the all-night dance and lasers that would have pointed into the sky were instead refracted into the eyes of the attendees.

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