NAGA CITY  (PIA) – The Bicol Medical Center (BMC) has logged five minor firecracker-related injuries – one on Christmas Day and four others on New Year's Day.

An 18-year old man from Barangay San Felipe, this city was treated for his wound caused by a five-star firecracker on December 25.

Four other men incurred similar minor injury and were rushed to the BMC Emergency Room on January 1, including a 21-year old Domingo Otares from Itangon, Bula, Camarines Sur who was bloodied by a five-star firecracker.

The Camarines Sur Police Provincial Office (CSPPO) reported that Otares was about to light up the firecracker when it suddenly exploded on his left hand, leaving him injured.

He was rushed by Bula RHU Ambulance to BMC for immediate treatment.

The third victim, a 15 year-old child from Sagrada, Pili, was injured by "Buhok Ni Lola" firecracker, according to a report prepared Senior Master Sergeant (PSMS) Joel Tabagan, CSPPO investigator. 

The other pair of injuries involved an 8-year-old boy from Tamban, Tinambac who lit up a "kwitis" and a teenager from Dugcal, Camaligan who sustained a wound from what was dubbed as "Spirit Whip."

All were treated and discharged on the same day.

Aside from the five victims, a 16-year old child was treated at Dr. Bascuña Clinic in Pili, Camarines Sur on Dec. 31 for a  whistle bomb injury, according to a report from the police station of Pili. 

The victim placed the whistle bomb inside an empty can of sardines. When it exploded, fragments hit his left arm, causing him to sustain minor injury, the report said.

Last year, the BMC Health Emergency Management Staff (HEMS) recorded only two firecracker-related injuries.  Injured were a 10-year old boy who was wounded by an improvised canon or “boga” and a 39-year-old man who was injurred by a “kwitis.”

Both were also discharged and sent home on the same day.

The 2021 pyrotechnic-related injuries were fewer than the seven people treated for similar injuries at the BMC ER in 2020. (PIA5/Camarines Sur)