THE PHILIPPINE health department on Wednesday said it had recorded 114 more injuries related to lighting up firecrackers and fireworks after the New Year celebration, bringing the total cases during the holiday season to 557.
The youngest victim so far was a 10-month-old baby from Metro Manila whose right eye was hit by a legal firecracker lit by someone else at home, the Department of Health (DoH) said in a statement.
The oldest case was a 77-year-old male from Ilocos Region who suffered burns from a legal firecracker lit by another person at home.
“Household use of fireworks is a risk not only to yourself but to your family. Our data further strengthens this observation,” the DoH said.
Almost 100% of the victims were injured at home and in the streets, the DoH said, adding that most of the cases were due to legal fireworks. It said around 9% of the new cases were hospitalized due to their injuries.
Metro Manila accounted for more than half or 306 of the 557 injury cases related to fireworks and firecrackers during the holiday season, followed by Ilocos Region with 55 cases, Central Luzon with 42, and Calabarzon with 39.
Kwitis, a rocket-like pyrotechnics product, was the top cause of injuries, followed by firecrackers “5-Star,” pla-pla, boga, and “whistle bomb,” and then sparklers like luces and the “fountain.”
“Illegal fireworks are to blame for just four out of every 10 cases (216, 39%), with legal fireworks causing more injuries,” the DoH said. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
