The total number of fireworks-related injuries reported from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2 rose to 236 after 98 incidents were reported over the New Year celebration, the Health department said Wednesday.
The department made the statement even as Metro Manila Police Chief Guillermo Eleazar said the New Year revelry in the National Capital Region was generally peaceful.
“As the year 2019 rang the other night to unfurl a new year ahead, Team NCRPO’s full force made its presence felt and made Metro Manila a safer and more enjoyable place to celebrate the coming year,” Eleazar said.
“I was out checking the presence of our policemen in key areas and I felt good and proud seeing our men and women in their posts.”
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Eleazar said he saw families come out to spend New Year’s Eve in and near the entertainment plazas.
“Young men and women were partying on the streets in front of their homes, children ran free and in the parks and couples strolled hand in hand with nary a care in the world,” Eleazar said.
The Health department’s Fireworks-Related Injury Surveillance report says the 98 were hurt by firecrackers from Jan. 1 to the early morning of Jan. 2.
The report says the 236 injuries from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2 is 52 percent lower than the 492 recorded in 2018 and 71 percent lower than the five-year average of 814.
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Of the total, 35 were from the National Capital Region; 22 from Region I, 13 from Region VI, six from Region VII, five from Region IV-A, four from Region III, three each from the ARMM and Region V, two each from Regions IV-B and XII, and one each from Regions II, IX and XI.
The report says of the 236 victims, 187 were male and those affected were between the ages of two and 75 with a median age of 16.
The total 140 of the firecracker-related injuries were caused by legal fireworks, 234 victims were hurt by firecrackers while two cases were due to “fireworks ingestion.”
The report says 180 cases were blast or burn injuries without amputation, eight cases were blast or burn injuries with amputation, and 61 cases were eye injuries.
The top cause of injuries was “kwitis” or rockets (55) followed by luces (20) piccolo (19), PVC cannon or “boga” (18) and 5-star (14).
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