Posted on 01/01/2016 8:06:32 AM PST by BenLurkin
New Year's firecrackers left at least one man dead and 380 others injured, and caused a fire that gutted 1,000 shanties in the Philippines despite rain and a government warning campaign, officials said Friday.
A drunken man lit a dynamite-like firecracker called "Goodbye Philippines" and embraced it in Manila as it exploded, ripping his jaw and killing him, Health Secretary Janet Garin announced.
Fire officials said a rocket lit by revelers set an abandoned hut ablaze, sparking a fire that razed about 1,000 shanties in Manila's Tondo slum district and displacing several thousand families.
Many superstitious Filipinos usher in the new year with powerful firecrackers, believing that noisy celebrations - largely influenced by Chinese tradition - drive away bad luck and evil.
Garin said the number of injured, while still alarming, was less than half of last year's toll because of rain late Thursday and a government scare campaign that involved showing gory pictures of past victims with their fingers ripped off by firecracker blasts.
The government has promoted fireworks shows sponsored by shopping centers, cities and even TV networks to discourage people from lighting their own firecrackers.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
You can throw a helluva party in a country with no Workman’s Comp.
WE HAVE A WINNER! Darwin Award.
How drunk do you have to be?
Hell of a way to get urban renewal!
His Good-bye Philippines turned into a Good-bye Cruel World.
Not very original though.
Emperor Nero pioneered the method I believe in 64 AD.
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