Fireworks from Christmas revellers injured at least 100 people in Argentina this year, medical officials said Saturday, fewer than last year. A dozen of the wounded were treated for burns at the Quernado hospital in Buenos Aires, including an 11-year-old boy who suffered severe burns to his shoulder from a firecracker, said on-call doctor Miriam Mino.
She noted that the number of injured so far was still three percent less than those recorded in 2009. About 50 people, eight of them with serious injuries, were being treated at the Santa Lucia eye hospital, said doctor Pablo Pauloni, noting that three children were among the most seriously injured patients.
The Pedro Lagleyze eye hospital treated another 15 patients, including three who were hospitalised for surgery due to burns and cuts from fireworks and other pyrotechnics.
A child younger than six was in an induced coma after a firecracker hit him in the head in Cordoba, 700 kilometers (435 miles) north of Buenos Aires. In Rosario, 300 kilometers (190 miles) north of the capital, 13 people were wounded, including for gunshot wounds. Meanwhile, powerful fireworks sparked fires at eleven homes in Buenos Aires, but no casualties were reported. On the roads, four motorcyclists were killed in traffic accidents across the country between late Friday and early Saturday, police said.