Firecracker blast kills boy, 6, in Bulacan town

CAMP GEN. ALEJO SANTOS, Bulacan—A six-year-old boy was killed on Monday when a tricycle, loaded with firecrackers, exploded in Norzagaray town.

It was the second case involving firecracker use in this fireworks capital a week before the New Year celebration. On Sunday night, a man lost his leg to a powerful firecracker explosion in Bocaue town.

But despite the two cases, sales of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic products have been brisk since Sunday, according to Bulacan manufacturers.

Noli de Silva, a tricycle driver, had bought packs of assorted firecrackers from Bocaue and was going to Barangay Silala in Guimba, Nueva Ecija, when the firecrackers exploded in Barangay Partida in Norzagaray at 8 p.m. on Monday.

His son, John Exequiel, who was perched behind him, was directly hit and died while undergoing treatment at  Norzagaray Municipal Hospital.

De Silva suffered major burns and was transferred to the Philippine General Hospital in Manila.

Police said the load of firecrackers was ignited by sparks from the exhaust pipe of the tricycle.

In Bocaue, Danilo Mansueto, 45, of Barangay Binang Second, and his friends ignited a powerful firecracker, called locally as “Goodbye Philippines,” during a drinking binge inside a vacant lot at 8 p.m. on Sunday. Mansueto had to bid goodbye to his right leg as the firecracker was strong enough to blast it off.

Goodbye Philippines is a foot-long firecracker that is shaped like a triangle. It is loaded with five times the amount of the chemical component of a regulated firecracker.

Police have been pursuing traffickers of illicit fireworks. They recently arrested Ray Angel Solomon, 31, of Bocaue, for possessing a sack filled with unlicensed fireworks called “Pla-pla” and another sack filled with unregulated “Super Lolo” firecrackers. Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon