Fireworks injure 160 in Philippines

More than 160 people have been
injured by fireworks in the Philippines as they
prepared to welcome the New Year, the government
said Saturday.
A 14-year-old boy who lost his right hand and an
elderly man with a ruptured eyeball were among the
worst injured so far, Assistant Health Secretary Eric
Tayag said.
He tweeted that a five-year-old had also lost his
right index finger from using fireworks.
The Asian nation of 100 million people traditionally
greets the New Year by making noise in the belief it
will drive bad spirits away.
Households start stockpiling fireworks around
Christmas and start using them days before New
Year’s Eve.
Apart from fireworks, gun owners are another
seasonal hazard as they fire their weapons in the
air to celebrate Christmas and New Year.
Tayag said government hospitals had tallied 164
firework injuries in the runup to New Year’s Eve,
plus one case of a firecracker being swallowed.
“Active fireworks users (are) up by eight percent
this year compared to 2012,” he said, without giving
figures.
He said one person was also wounded by a stray
bullet.
Celebratory gunfire killed a four-year-old boy and
more than 400 others were injured by powerful
fireworks in the runup to 2013, according to police
and health department tallies