70 hurt, 5 fires recorded in MManila New Year revelry — report

At least 70 people were reported injured while five fires were recorded in Metro Manila in the thick of the New Year revelry from Friday night and early Saturday. Radio dzBB reported these included at least nine victims of stray bullets and several people being hit by vehicles after lighting firecrackers. The report said these incidents were expected to jack up the number of casualties during the New Year revelry, which stood at 245 as of Dec. 31. One of the victims of stray bullets, a 14-year-old girl, was watching a New Year countdown on television in Pasay City when she was hit in the foot. She was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. Also in Pasay City, a reveler was reported injured after being hit by a motorcycle shortly after he lighted a firecracker along Aurora Boulevard. The reveler, initially identified as Fernando Teroy, was running away from a firecracker he lighted when a motorcycle driven by Rommel Apostol hit him. Apostol was also hurt, the report said. In Manila, at least 21 people were rushed to the Tondo General Hospital for treatment. The injured included a man who suffered burns from a pla-pla. At the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, a minor was bloodied after being hit by a tricycle shortly after lighting a whistle bomb On the other hand, at least 29 revelers were rushed to the Philippine General Hospital for treatment of revelry-related injuries. Six more were rushed to the Ospital ng Maynila, the dzBB report added. In Makati City, at least 13 were rushed to the Ospital ng Makati, 11 of them victims of firecrackers. Two of the firecracker victims were as young as 6 and 7. Another victim included a man who was injured in the ear after a “kwitis" fell on him. In eastern Metro Manila, several drunk revelers were rushed to the Amang Rodriguez Medical Center after figuring in revelry-related accidents. At least 22 were rushed to the Rizal Medical Center, six of them figuring in a New Year rumble, according to a report by dzBB’s Paulo Santos. Fires in Metro Manila At least one person was reported injured in five fires that were recorded in Metro Manila during the New Year revelry between Friday night and early Saturday. In Manila, radio dzBB reported a fire hit an old two-story building at the corner of Rizal Avenue and Batangas Street in Sta. Cruz. The fire started at 11 p.m. and reached the second alarm and was put out in less than an hour. No one was inside the building at the time, the report said. Another fire broke out before 1 a.m. at a two-story apartment along Vicente Cruz Street in Sampaloc. The fire reached the third alarm and was placed under control at 1:20 a.m. While no one was initially reported hurt, a woman was given medical treatment after having difficulty breathing, the report said. In Pasig City, one person was reported injured after a predawn fire razed at least four houses at Camachile Street in Pinagbuhatan village in Pasig City. “Isa ang nasaktan, pero hindi malala ang injuries (One was hurt but there was no serious injury)," city fire marshal Superintendent Ricardo Perdigon said. Perdigon said another fire was recorded in Pasig City at midnight but said the damage was minimal. He did not immediately give further details. Another fire was reported at a garment factory warehouse along Villonco Road, at the boundary of Parañaque and Muntinlupa Cities. The fire reached the fourth alarm, dzBB’s Paulo Santos reported. — LBG, GMANews.TV