Stray bullet injuries climb to 3

STRAY bullet injuries (SBIs) related to the New Year revelry climbed to three yesterday after two additional cases were reported by the Department of Health (DOH).

In a statement, the DOH said: “One case of SBI is a 28-year-old male from the National Capital Region, who suffered a fracture in his second toe of the left foot due to a stray bullet.

“The other case of SBI is a 60-year-old male from Cordillera Administrative Region, who suffered a fracture in his left collar bone.”

Last Tuesday, a 23-year-old male from the Davao Region became the first stray bullet case during the holiday season.

Aside from the two additional SBIs, 26 new injuries due to fireworks were recorded as of yesterday, mostly males (88%) whose ages ranged from 6 to 62.

Almost all (96%) of the new cases occurred at home and in the streets.

Thirteen of the new cases were due to legal fireworks, said the health department.

Since December 21, 2023, some 585 firecracker-related injuries, with 581 caused by fireworks, 1 due to watusi ingestion, and 3 SBIs, have been reported by the DOH.

More than half of the cases were from NCR with 311, followed by the Ilocos Region (58), Calabarzon (47), and Central Luzon (42).

The DOH said the fireworks that caused the majority of the injuries were Kwitis, 5-star, Whistle Bomb, Pla-pla, Boga, Luces, and Fountain.