Beijing hospitals treat fewer firework injuries

BEIJING - Hospitals in Beijing treated fewer patients injured by fireworks during the Spring Festival holiday, health authorities said Friday.

From January 31, the Spring Festival, to 9 a.m. of February 6, 119 people, including those from nearby regions such as Hebei Province, went to Beijing hospitals because of injuries caused by fireworks, down 33.89 percent from last year, the city's health and family planning commission said in a statement.

Aged from three to 73, most people suffered eye injuries, traumas and burns, and six were hospitalized, said the statement.

No deaths were reported.

Although a Chinese New Year tradition to ward off evil spirits, fewer fireworks were set off this year because of emissions of dust and sulfur dioxide and serious regional air pollution.

According to the Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group Ltd. on Friday, cleaners in the city collected 90.25 tonnes of firework debris during the holiday, 4.25 tonnes less than the same period last year.

Fireworks sales in Beijing slumped 37.7 percent during the holiday from a year earlier, with 195,000 boxes of fireworks sold between Lunar New Year Eve on January 30 and February 4, the Beijing municipal public security bureau said Wednesday.