CEBU CITY – The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) has recorded 93 fireworks-related injuries from December 21, 2024, to January 2, 2025, according to a report released Thursday.
Of the total, 19 new cases were reported after the New Year’s celebration, based on data from 34 hospitals across the region, including two sentinel and 32 non-sentinel facilities.
The DOH figures are notably higher than those reported by the Police Regional Office-7 (PRO-7), which documented 14 fireworks-related incidents during the same period.
DOH-7 reported one stray bullet-related injury, while PRO-7 recorded two cases of indiscriminate firing.
Lt. Col. Janette Rafter, spokesperson for PRO-7, highlighted that seven of the firecracker injury cases they recorded were serious.
Two fatalities were confirmed: a 23-year-old vlogger from Asturias, Cebu, and a 10-year-old boy from Talisay City.
Despite these, Central Visayas was generally peaceful during the revelries, Rafter said.
Meanwhile, the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, known as the pilot sentinel hospital in the region, recorded a total of 133 cases of road traffic-related injuries from December 21, 2024 to January 2. (PNA)