R1MC records 34 firecracker injuries
THREE children who had their fingers or hand amputated were among the more than 30 recorded injuries related to the New Year’s celebration.
The Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) reported a total of 34 injuries, of which 30 were from December 31 to January 4.
The most seriously injured was a 16-year-old boy from Barangay Pantal, Manaoag, whose right hand was nearly severed and had to be amputated as a result of a pillbox explosion.
Adrain Sanchez, a fourth year high school student of the Manaoag National High School, passed out after the explosion and woke up at R1MC writhing in pain with bandaged hands.
He admitted that the pillbox, filled with gunpowder and stones, was devised by him and two other classmates, Rocriz Tenoso and Gerald de la Cruz, as they wanted to have a kind of explosion different from the rest of their neighbors.
Sanchez, who also suffered swelling in his right face, said that they actually forgot about it on New Year’s Eve and decided to light it the following morning.
As he was about to throw the pillbox, he tripped causing it to explode prematurely in his hands.
ANOTHER HAND
In Dagupan, 10-year old Joseph Agbisit of Bangusville in Barangay Bonuan Gueset also lost his right hand when he picked up a Pla-Pla firecracker thrown by a neighbor which did not explode until he picked it up.
His brother Jexem, 16, and some neighbors rushed Joseph to R1MC.
Their father Alex arrived later at the surgical ward of R1MC, intoxicated, and had to be shown out when he began spanking the injured boy.
Meanwhile, doctors amputated the little finger in the left hand of Enrico Mendoza Nava, 6, when a still unidentified type of firecracker exploded after picking it up in his neighborhood in Barangay Talogtog, Lingayen.
Majority of the injuries this year involved small children picking up lit firecrackers on the streets that initially appeared to have failed to explode.
The lone victim of stray bullet was identified as 24-year old man from Barangay Bongato East, Bayambang who was hit in the left leg from a bullet fired in the air by a drunk man from Barangay Casingal, Bautista at 5 p.m. of Dec. 31.
Dr. Joseph Roland Mejia, R1MC director, said 49 firecracker-related injuries recorded, Including those treated from December 22, one higher than the 48 recorded the previous year.—Eva Visperas
POGO GRANDE’S ‘BALON KAAGUAN’ 15-MINUTE BLAST
BARANGAY Pogo Grande’s annual new year’s day noon blast, dubbed as ‘‘Balon Kaaguan’ meaning New Noon, lit and exploded at least 90 thousand triangle-rapids exploded, creating noise and spectacle that lasted 15 minutes, and with one difference – no casualty was reported.
The barangay council prepared for the arrival of an even bigger crowd for the event, now considered a much-awaited New Year, with the presence of a fire truck, ambulance, the police and other security measures.
The tradition, with the noise intended to drive away the bad luck from the new year, uses firecrackers strewn together and hung over a 100-meter long stretch from the bridge to the barangay intersection.
The first firecracker is lit at the strike of 12 noon of January 1 and the rest automatically go popping.
Councilor Myrna Esteves, the acting barangay chair, said most of the firecrackers this year were donated by balikbayans.
“Karamihan, donasyon ng mga balikbayan kasi alam nila ang tradisyon na ito na kilala na sa maraming lugar,” Esteves said.
The tradition started more than two decades ago with the simultaneous lighting of just a few firecrackers that were not sold and eventually became a popular spectacle, attracting people from other areas. (PIA-Pangasinan)
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