Delaware

Delaware Pumpkin-Launching Event to Return One Year After Explosion

Organizers are planning to hold a Delaware pumpkin-launching competition this year despite the withdrawal of the Science Channel after a 2016 accident.

Frank Payton is president of the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association. Payton said Saturday that the Science Channel has said it won't return this year, leaving the event without a major source of funding. The Science Channel had previously chronicled the three-day Sussex County tradition.

Payton says the event will still be held Nov. 3, 4 and 5 in Bridgeville. Organizers are looking for other partners and funding sources.

A woman was critically injured at the event last year when she was hit by metal after an air cannon's trap door ripped off the machine while firing a pumpkin. A man was also hurt.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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