DOH: 12 more injured from firecracker blasts

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday recorded 12 more individuals, including a five-year-old boy from Manila, who suffered injuries from firecracker explosions.

This brings to 13 the number of firecracker-related injuries recorded by the DOH National Epidemilogy Center (NEC) through its “Iwas Paputok” Injury Registry, which started recording cases at 6 a.m. last Dec. 21.

The first case registered by the DOH was a nine-year-old boy from Tondo, Manila who sustained injuries on his right thumb and index finger after using piccolo last Dec. 21.

DOH Assistant Secretary and NEC director Eric Tayag said a five-year-old boy who was an “active user” of firecrackers sustained wounds on his index finger due to piccolo.

Piccolo is a banned firecracker that has been causing majority of the injuries in the past New Year celebrations in the country.

Seemingly harmless, piccolo is popular among children because simply scratching it on a rough surface, like a matchstick, could ignite it. But most of the time, the piccolo would explode even before they are ignited.

According to Tayag, seven of the 13 injuries were caused by piccolo. Eleven of them were males who were active users of firecrackers, while seven were passive users or just bystanders.

Tayag added that the oldest victim was a 51-year-old man from Caloocan City who suffered an eye injury after he was accidentally hit by a firecracker on his face yesterday morning.