The Department of Health (DoH) on Tuesday said that it recorded a total of 62 fireworks-related injuries nationwide hours before welcoming the New Year.
The DoH noted that the figure on injuries as of 5:59 a.m. Tuesday (Dec. 31) was two cases higher than the same period last year.
Forty-seven injuries were blasts or burn without amputation, 16 cases were eye injuries, while two cases needed amputation of the limbs after suffering from blasts, the health department said.
To note, the cases that required amputation involved a 13-year-old boy from Nueva Ecija and a seven-year-old boy from General Trias, Cavite.
Most of the cases happened in the National Capital Region with 27 reported cases. The DoH said that the incidents occurred in the City of Manila with 14 cases; Quezon City with seven cases; two cases each from the cities of Marikina and Valenzuela; and one case each from the cities of Mandaluyong and Pasay.
The firecrackers that caused the injuries were Piccolo, Boga, Kwitis, Five-star, and Luces. The common body parts that sustained injuries were hands and eyes, the DoH noted.
The DoH said that no stray bullet injury or fireworks ingestion cases were reported since they started their surveillance last December 21. The health department added that no deaths have been reported.
A total of 340 injuries were reported from December 21, 2018 to January 5, 2019. (Analou de Vera)
