Boy dead, 300 hurt in New Year revelry

MANILA, Philippines -  A four-year-old boy died after being accidentally shot while playing near their home in Mandaluyong City during the New Year revelry, police reported Tuesday.

Police Officer 2 Jesus Visagre of the Mandaluyong City police said Ranjelo Nemor was accidentally shot in the back while playing in Block 26, Barangay Addition Hills. He said the firearm that hit the boy could have been a homemade shotgun locally known as "sumpak."

Chief Superintendent Generoso Servo, spokesperson of the Philippine National Police, said that aside from the boy the organization also received seven reports of stray bullet injuries during the New Year revelry.

DOH Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag, meanwhile, announced in his Twitter account that a total of 171 firecracker-related injuries were recorded from seven major hospitals in Metro Manila from 6 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Before the 12-hour count, the DOH had recorded a total of 186 firework-related injuries, including one victim of a stray bullet. Majority of the victims from the initial count were also residents of the capital region.

Tayag had said that majority of the casualties were children aged between 6 and 10 and they were injured by a firecracker called "Piccolo," the top cause of injuries almost each year.

The DOH said that it will issue an updated count of the firework-related injuries on Tuesday afternoon. The data would include injuries recorded nationwide.