A colourful Christmas carols event turned to chaos in Sydney's north overnight after fireworks misfired and launched into the crowd, injuring three children.

Elias Carrera, 11, was sitting in the front row when the set of roman candles misfired and launched balls of fire into the crowd at Christmas Carols at Allambie Heights about 9.30pm on Sunday.

He was rushed to hospital with serious burns after the firework hit him in the chest and exploded on impact.

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In a post on Facebook, Elias' mum Emma said her boy "was out of surgery and recovering" and "has a large open crater in his chest that has damaged the muscle and his spleen".

The mum said her little boy was also concerned about the other children at the event who were injured.

"He hopes the other children injured are ok. He was very concerned," she said.

An eight-year-old girl broke her wrist while running from the chaos and a 12-year-old boy suffered minor burns.

"There was a lot of commotion beside us, kids were running everywhere," an attendee said.

"There were lots of kids who were stressed and crying and traumatised," Helen O'Shea, another witness, said.

You can hear screams coming from the crowd of families shortly after the fireworks display commenced in videos from the scene.

Witness Greg Nuan said one of the parents who were at the event was a firefighter and helped provide first aid at the scene.

Many families narrowly escaped, including TV presenter Beau Walker.

"I grabbed them (children) and just ran," Walker said.

"I scooped them up and turned them around and put my back to them (the fireworks) just in case it hit my back and not the kids."

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Display organisers, Howard's Fireworks, were at the scene with Safe Work NSW today to piece together what went wrong.

"There have been roman candles in the past that have malfunctioned," fireworks organiser Christian Howard said.

"It's projecting flaming balls that could cause burns."

Organisers said the display was shut down as soon as the roman candle began to malfunction.

It remains unclear why the fireworks landed in the crowds, with speculation wind could have pushed the fireworks in the wrong direction.

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A YouTuber charged over alleged antics in a clown car described by police as potentially life-threatening has had a sobering date with a magistrate.

Sam Eyles is facing a dozen charges after allegedly posting evidence of numerous offences to social media.

Labelled grossly defective, a modified clown car with shoddy brakes, springs on the bumper and a jerry can in the floor probably would not have been allowed in a circus tent, let alone on the road, or in a fast food drive-through.

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They raided his Sunshine Coast home earlier this year, slapping him with a dozen charges including the dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

He faced a magistrate in Maroochydore today.

Under his bail conditions, Eyles has surrendered his passport and may not approach an international terminal.

He remained quiet and subdued inside court.

But outside, minutes after signing bail paperwork, he made strange comments when asked about whether he thought he put lives at risk.

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"The thing is, 'cos turtles smell with their feet it makes you so much better at golf," he said.

Nine of Eyles' friends have also been hit with traffic fines and 99 demerit points.

Police said videos of their antics posted online are now being used as evidence.

Eyles will return to court early next year.

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A high school student has been rescued from Adelaide Zoo's giant panda enclosure after trying to retrieve a dropped mobile phone.

Adelaide Zoo said the student had been filming at the giant panda enclosure and then dropped the phone.

"They made the unwise decision to attempt to retrieve the phone and entered into the giant panda enclosure," Zoos SA chief executive Elaine Bensted said.

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Bensted said staff switched off the hot wire that circles the enclosure before using a ladder to retrieve the student and phone.

The student escaped without injury, only reporting some tingling in the fingers from touching the hot wire.

Thankfully the giant panda, Wang Wang, wasn't hanging around at the time.

"I think Wang Wang slept through all the excitement," Bensted said.

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Bensted said this is the first incident of its kind since the zoo opened in 2009 but even if Wang Wang had been awake, the student wouldn't have been at risk.

"Giant pandas are not aggressive animals, they are large and they are bears so they have large teeth and large claws but their very nature is not aggressive," she said.

However, she emphasised anyone visiting the zoo should not enter the enclosures.

The zoo will review its safety procedures after the incident.

"Both Giant Pandas are safe and well and the Bamboo Forest was reopened to visitors 30 minutes after the incident," the zoo said.

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Police believe the fatal shooting of a man in Adelaide was targeted after he was found lying on a road overnight.

The 41-year-old man was found on Dunorlan Street in Edwardstown just before 9.30pm yesterday, with witnesses telling 9News he had been shot in the chest.

He was rushed to the Flinders Medical Centre in a critical condition but was declared dead soon after.

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Police don't believe the shooting was random and are now searching for a suspect or suspects.

"At the moment we haven't located the firearm," Detective Inspector Mark McEachern said.

"We don't believe the attack is random, we suspect it is someone known to the victim.

"We can't go into the details as to why we believe that but that is our suspicion at the moment.

Officers are "open-minded" to how many people were involved in the attack, he said.

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Police are speaking with associates and people known to the man.

The victim is believed to be "associated with people in the vicinity" of the attack, McEachern said.

Police seized a white Toyota Camry from nearby which is believed to be connected to the victim and is now undergoing a forensic examination.

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McEachern said the attack is extremely concerning.

"To be shot in a suburban street on a Sunday evening is certainly of great concern to us and the community," he said.

Officers have asked anyone who was travelling along Dunorlan Road between 8.30pm and 9.30pm to come forward.

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Residents on the street have been left shocked by the attack.

"We saw the lights out, initially thought they were Christmas lights of the neighbours and had a look outside and thought, yeah, we'll stay inside tonight I reckon," one resident said.

"It's devastating, really, especially being so close to home and whatnot, you would just not expect it," another said.

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A New South Wales builder has plunged into administration after catastrophic weather events, the pandemic and the rising costs of materials made business too costly to continue.

Elderton Homes announced it had appointed Liam Bailey and Chris Palmer of O'Brien Palmer as administrators today, citing the impact of several different events.

"This has been a difficult decision and a result of several factors, not limited to but including bushfires, floods, a global health pandemic and economic conditions," Elderton Homes said in a statement.

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"The impact of these events continue today.

"Furthermore, the construction industry has also been subject to record levels of rainfall, substantial price increases on building materials, supply chain challenges and labour shortages."

The business started as a display home in the Hills District in 2009 and has since been involved in building "thousands of homes" in Sydney, the Central Coast and Illawarra.

Elderton Homes' website states it has over 50 team members.

It also deals with other subcontractors and suppliers.

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A number of construction firms have gone out of business this year, because of tough market conditions over the pandemic.

Companies have battled the rising cost of materials and severe labour shortages.

Many projects negotiated before the pandemic are now no longer viable.

Perth-based construction giant Clough announced just last week it was being placed into voluntary administration, putting the jobs of more than 1200 Australians in jeopardy and impacting the Snowy 2.0 hydropower project.

The engineering group has been involved in numerous large-scale infrastructure projects around the country, including hydropower, energy, transport and mining.

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