Casualties of fireworks totaled 663 including one death in Beijing in the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations, according to the municipal health authorities.

 

Improper use of fireworks was blamed for 420 cases, or 63 percent of the total, 13.51 percent higher than last year, from Feb. 17 to 24 or the New Year's Eve to the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau said

 

Substandard fireworks wounded 120 others, a 0.87 percent year-on-year increase, it said.

 

A 25-year-old man died of head injuries on the New Year's Eve and another man, 21, had his eyeball removed, according to Beijing Fireworks Administration Office.

 

More than 510,000 boxes of firecrackers went on sale in over 2,000 outlets in Beijing ahead of the celebrations which began on February 17.

 

The city reported 654 casualties of fireworks during the same period last year.

 

This was the second year since Beijing lifted a 12-year ban on fireworks, which are traditionally believed to scare away demons and bring good fortune.

 

The Beijing authorities banned firecrackers in 1994 due to safety and environmental concerns, but lifted the ban in 2006 after authorities said the industry had cleaned up its act.

 

The new regulations allow Beijing residents inside the fifth ring road to let off fireworks all day on February 17 and 18 - New Year's Eve and New Year's Day - and from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. everyday from February 19 to March 4.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2007)