Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 5) — The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday confirmed another death from the New Year festivities, bringing the total to two.
The DOH said the latest fatality was a 44-year-old male from Ilocos Region who died after suffering injuries from a blasting incident.
The victim was in the same event as the first casualty from Dagupan City, who died after lighting a cigarette while drinking near a storage area filled with fireworks.
The DOH also reported four additional stray bullet injuries (SBI), pushing the total to seven.
The agency said one victim was a 28-year-old female from Calabarzon, who sustained a gunshot wound to her right arm while watching fireworks outside her home.
Two victims are siblings from the Ilocos Region, a 22-year-old female and her 26-year-old brother who sustained wounds from stray bullets in different parts of their bodies after their neighbor fired a gun near their home.
The fourth new case is a 22-year-old man from Northern Mindanao whose right arm was wounded while celebrating with family.
The DOH logged 11 new fireworks-related injuries, with the youngest being four years old.
The total number of injuries related to New Year celebrations is now 600; 592 are due to fireworks, seven because of stray bullets, and a lone case of watusi ingestion.
The current figure is close to the 633 injuries recorded in 2016. The total may still go up before the DOH releases its final report on Saturday.
The agency said over half of the cases or 313 are from Metro Manila, 61 (10%) are from the Ilocos Region, 49 (8%) from Calabarzon and 42 (7%) from Central Luzon. Up to 96% occurred at home and in the streets, mostly males with active involvement.
The DOH noted that kwitis, 5-star, whistle bomb, pla-pla, boga, luces, and fountain caused majority or 64% of the injuries.
However, it said legal fireworks were to blame for more injuries as illegal fireworks caused only four out of every 10 cases.
