65 hurt by firecrackers, six by stray bullets in Central Visayas

CEBU CITY, Philippines—At least 65 persons suffered firecracker blast injuries during the New Year’s eve revelries in the cities of Cebu, Iloilo, Tacloban and Bacolod.

Cebu had the most number of firecracker blast cases at 32, followed by Bacolod, 16; Iloilo, 10; and Leyte, 7.

The Philippine National Police and the Department of Health reported that six persons in Cebu and another in Iloilo were hit by stray bullets.

Rennan Cimafranca, regional epidemiologist of the DOH Central Visayas Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU), described as alarming the cases of stray bullets in Cebu.

“I hope our authorities will take a closer look on these cases,” he said, adding that two persons were also hit by stray bullets during the Christmas Eve revelries in Cebu.

Cimafranca said the victims were in stable condition.

He said RESU received 32 cases of firecracker blast injuries in Cebu. The victims were from two to 62 years old. Two of them suffered eye injuries while three underwent amputations on the fingers.

The common firecrackers used include whistlebomb, shotgun, kwitis and piccolo.

In Bacolod, 16 persons were brought to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital for treatment of firecracker blast injuries.

Dr. Jade Paul Morin said the victims suffered minor injuries.

In Iloilo, firecrackers blasts hurt 10 persons while a 22-year-old woman was hit by a stray bullet during the New Year’s eve revelries.

Remia Sotomayor, a resident of Molo District in Iloilo City, had a bullet wound in the left shoulder.

She was admitted to the Western Visayas Medical Center where she has been undergoing treatment.

The DOH report said the most common cause of injuries was “boga” (improvised canon usually made of PVC pipe) with five cases, followed by “kwitis” with four cases and “whistle bomb” with two.

In Leyte, seven persons, four of them children, were hurt by firecracker blasts during the New Year’s revelry in Tacloban City, Leyte.

The number was higher than the two patients who were admitted to the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Tacloban in 2011. Of the seven, only one suffered serious injuries.

Physicians at the EVRMC had to amputate one of the fingers of a  37-year-old man after a firecracker called “five star” exploded in his hand.

Based on hospital records, three of the seven blast victims were female aged 16 to 37. The four male victims were between nine and 35 years old. Three of the victims were just hit by the blasts and were not lighting any firecrackers. Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Carla P. Gomez, Jhunnex Napallacan and Joey A. Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas