HCMC girl loses hand to firework

The 5-year-old was taken to the City Children’s Hospital with a crushed left hand and injuries to the left part of her abdomen. Her right thigh was also burned, Nguyen Minh Tien, the hospital’s vice director, said Wednesday.

As her left hand was crushed, it cannot be recovered and had to be amputated.

The girl’s family said the neighbor’s house launched fireworks on Monday, the third day of Tet, and an unexploded shell fell into their yard. When the girl picked it up, it exploded.

Over four days of the Tet holiday, 507 people were taken to hospitals and medical facilities due to firework-related injuries, 134 more cases than last year, according to the Ministry of Health.