1 dead, 200 hurt in Philippines New Year’s Eve accidents

MANILA: A 58-year-old man was killed and more than 200 other people were injured in fires and firecrackerrelated accidents during New Year’s Eve celebrations in the Philippines, officials said on Monday.

The man was sick and alone at home when a fire broke out in a row of 15 houses in the Manila suburban city of Pasig, leaving about 150 people homeless, according to the Bureau of Fire Protection.

At least eight other fire incidents were reported overnight, mostly due to electrical problems while others were believed to have been started by wayward firecrackers, the bureau added.

Nearly 200 people were injured during traditionally raucous New Year celebrations despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s order limiting the use of firecrackers, the health minister said on Monday. The order signed in June restricted the noisy explosives to community fireworks displays in an attempt to curb the bloody merrymaking that leaves scores of Filipinos dead or injured each year.

A 10-year-old boy was hit by a stray bullet in Caloocan City, when a gun was fired during a quarrel between neighbours, police said.

The boy was rushed to hospital, where he was now in stable condition, they added. Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the number of injuries related to firecrackers and fireworks was drastically down from last year and the past five years due to the government’s campaign against it.

Fire officials relieved of duty: Meanwhile, five fire officials being questioned over a blaze that led to the deaths of 37 staff at the southern Philippines offices of an American market research firm have been relieved of their duties, a government investigator said on Monday.