'Bottled' firecracker hurts girl in Surigao City

MANILA, Philippines - An 11-year-old girl was hurt by a firecracker in Surigao City on Christmas Day, police reported on Wednesday.

 

Superintendent Martin Gamba, spokesperson of the Caraga regional police office, said that the child was hit by splinters of a bottle that was shattered by a firecracker in Surigao City.

 

Gamba, meanwhile, reported that the celebration of Christmas in the region was peaceful except for the single firecraker-related incident.

 

”The Christmas celebration was generally peaceful and there were no recorded victims of stray- bullets nor of alarming explosive or pyrotechnics incidents, except for a very minor firecracker-related incident reported in Surigao City, of which the victim was immediately released after being treated at Caraga Regional Hospital,” Gamba said.

 

Gamba said that according to a report from Surigao del Norte Police Provincial Office, a firecracker placed inside a glass bottle which was left near a residence at Purok 4, Brgy. Canlanipa, Surigao City, 5:00 a.m. Tuesday exploded hitting the child's left knee.

 

The girl was immediately treated and released thereafter at the city’s regional hospital.

 

Gamba said the information efforts of the police and other concerned agencies such as the Department of Health (DOH) with the cooperation of the public had contributed greatly to the government’s “zero casualty campaign."

 

“We hope to maintain the same record even after the celebration of the New Year,” said the police spokesperson.