A ONE-YEAR-OLD boy in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental was killed by a firecracker that landed on his chest as the baby was held by his mother while riding a motorcycle on New Year’s Eve.
The firecracke hit Raymar Generoso, the youngest victim of the New Year revelry in the region, as the family’s motorbike approached a group of people lighting several firecrackers along the road.
The baby’s father, Christ Ryan, who was driving, was wounded in his left hand when he tried to hurriedly remove the firecracker from the infant’s chest.
The man who tossed the firecracker, Avelex Amor, was detained by the police.
He promised to shoulder the medical and burial expenses.
More than half of those hurt by firecrackers during the revelry were bystanders who were injured while on the streets.
With 79 recorded victims in the region in 2013 and only 74 as the year 2014 came to a close, there is an apparent reduction in the number of firecracker victims, said Department of Health (DOH)-7 Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU) head Rennan Cimafranca.
Only 44 percent of the victims were lighting up firecrackers while 56 percent were injured by firecrackers used by others.
Most of the incidents, at 59 percent, occurred on the streets while 41 percent of the injuries happened in the victims’ homes.
The most number of patients was recorded in Cebu City at 26. In Cebu province, 10 victims lost either fingers or hands, while 15 had eye injuries. Forty were wounded.
There was only one victim in Bohol and six in Negros Oriental.