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Firecrackers leave 1 dead, 380 injured in Philippines
A man throws a bucket of water to help firemen battle a fire that occurred as Filipinos welcome the New Year at a poor Manila district of Tondo on Friday in the Philippines
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A man throws a bucket of water to help firemen battle a fire that occurred as Filipinos welcome the New Year at a poor Manila district of Tondo on Friday in the Philippines. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but a number of fires that occurred in the raucous New Year celebrations in the country are attributed to firecracker explosions. (AP/Linus Escandor II) (AP/Linus Escandor II)
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span class="inline inline-center">A man throws a bucket of water to help firemen battle a fire that occurred as Filipinos welcome the New Year at a poor Manila district of Tondo on Friday in the Philippines. The cause of the fire is still under investigation but a number of fires that occurred in the raucous New Year celebrations in the country are attributed to firecracker explosions. (AP/Linus Escandor II)
Philippine officials say firecrackers have left at least one man dead, 380 other revelers injured and caused a fire that gutted 1,000 shanties, despite rains and a government scare campaign.
Health Secretary Janet Garin said Friday that a drunken man lit a dynamite-like firecracker called "Goodbye Philippines" and embraced it on New Year's Eve, ripping his jaw and killing him.
Garin says the number of injured, while still alarming, was less than half of last year's number because of rains late Thursday and government warnings that people risked limb amputations if they were injured by oversized firecrackers.
Fire officials also said a rocket lit by revelers set ablaze an abandoned hut and sparked a fire that razed about 1,000 shanties in Manila.
