DOH: Revelry-related deaths climb to 4

MANILA, Philippines — The number of fatalities related to the holiday celebrations rose to four, following the death of a 54-year-old man from Calabarzon region, the Department of Health reported yesterday.

The DOH said firecracker-related injuries (FWRIs) also jumped to 832, from the 731 cases recorded as of Saturday.

In a post on its Facebook page, the DOH said the man was playing with kwitis when it exploded in his hand.

“The man sustained severe damage to his right hand because of the explosion and passed away later,” the post reads.

Of the four fatalities, the DOH said one was due to a stray bullet, referring to the case of a 19-year-old from Davao del Norte who was celebrating the New Year outdoors.

From Dec. 22 until yesterday, the DOH recorded a total of 832 firecracker-related injuries from 62 sentinel sites nationwide – including the 33 firecracker-related injuries reported by DOH-8 in Eastern Visayas.

The total also includes the 36 cases recorded on Dec. 31, 10 cases on Jan. 1 and Friday’s 15 cases.

Compared to the same period in 2023, when 606 firecracker-related injuries were recorded, the DOH said the FWRIs for the 2024 revelries are 37 percent higher.

Of the total cases, 491 are aged 19 years and below while 341 are aged 20  and above. Males accounted for 685 of the total FWRI cases while 147 are females.

Kwitis was the leading cause of FWRIs followed by five-star and cannon or boga. — Miriam Desacada