Medical personnel attend to a patient injured by fireworks at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — The Department of Health on Thursday recorded 26 new firecracker-related injuries across the country, pushing the total to 69.

The DOH on December 22 began tallying firecracker-related injuries this year.

The agency said of the total injuries so far, 58 were aged 19 and below, while the remainder were aged 20 and above.

It pointed out that children and minors were still the majority of users and victims of firecrackers.

The health agency also noted that 86 percent of the victims used illegal firecrackers such as "boga" or a PVC cannon. The majority or 74 percent of them were actively using a firecracker, it added.

Sixty-five cases of firecracker injuries were males while four were females, it said.

DOH cautioned that using firecrackers could lead to amputation of body parts, blindness, hearing loss, poisoning, burns, permanent lung damage, and even death from severe injuries.

It urged adults to supervise children and prohibit them from using fireworks, especially boga, 5-Star, and piccolo, which the DOH said were the leading causes of fireworks-related accidents.

The number of firecracker-related injuries has historically risen during the days immediately before and on New Year's Eve.

Last year, the government recorded hundreds of firecracker-related injuries following New Year celebrations.

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