262 hurt by firecrackers, stray bullet, says DOH

AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Despite warnings against use of firecrackers and indiscriminate firing of guns, the number of people injured has increased from 244 on Dec. 30 to 262 as of 6 a.m. Tuesday, said Health Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag.

Tayag, in his Twitter account, said 253 out of the 262 cases were due to firecrackers and one due to firecracker ingestion. He said an eight-year-old boy from Cebu lost his right hand to ”rebentador”.

The number of people hit by stray bullet also increased from five to eight.

Of the 253 firecracker-related injuries, 164 were caused by the banned firecracker “piccolo.”

For the same period in 2012, the department recorded 207 New Year related injuries with 204 fireworks related, one ingestion and two were hit by stray bullet.