Mumbai: Diwali crackers leave at least 27 with burns

Children with burn injuries recover at Sion hospital’s special burns ward for paediatric and female patients

A day of celebration turned into chaos when Pravin Kumar's six-year-old niece, who arrived with her parents from Goa to celebrate Diwali in Goregaon, suffered burns on her face due to firecrackers on November 12. Treated at Sion hospital's burns ward, the child has a two-month recovery ahead of her. She is one among at least 27 injured by firecrackers during Diwali festivities.

On November 12, Kumar's family first rushed the child to the nearest Trauma Hospital in Jogeshwari. "We were told to proceed to Sion hospital as doctors at the Trauma Hospital were on leave," said Kumar. His niece is now recovering at Sion hospital's special burns ward for paediatric and female patients. "Doctors have told us it will take at least a couple of months for her to completely recover," Kumar said.

Like Kumar's niece, there were at least 21 patients who were rushed to Sion hospital on November 12 and November 13 after they suffered burn injuries due to firecrackers. The assistant medical officer (AMO) at Sion hospital said, "Most of the burns patients were treated on OPD basis, but five had serious burn injuries and had to be admitted."

Dr Prithviraj Bhagat, in charge of the burns ward, said that all patients injured by firecrackers are stable at the moment. "But we will be keeping them at the hospital for another 21 days as burn patients are at a higher risk of bacterial infection," Dr Bhagat said.

Admitted patients have sustained burn injuries ranging from 10 per cent to 12 per cent; one patient has 25 per cent burns. "A couple of patients had injuries near their eyes," the AMO said, adding that there are three children - aged six, seven and nine - among the patients. Ahead of Diwali, the Bombay High Court restricted the use of firecrackers to 8 pm to 10 pm in light of the increasing pollution levels. However, the ban is far from being enforced as the city continues to burst firecrackers beyond 10 pm.

The BYL Nair Hospital saw six patients brought to the emergency ward with injuries from firecrackers on November 12. Of these, four were children. The first among them was a five-year-old who arrived at 10:10 pm with burn injuries on his eyes and his face. At 11:25 pm and 11:45 pm, two seven-year-olds were brought with burns on their right hands. The last child was a nine-year-old brought at 12:10 am.

Meanwhile, a 22-year-old visited the hospital at 4:35 am with burns on both his hands. Data from KEM Hospital, which typically witnesses a large number of burn injuries in their emergency ward around Diwali every year, was unavailable.

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Patients treated for burns at Sion hospital