At least 54 people have sustained eye injuries due to firecrackers this Diwali onWednesday and Thursday.
Most of the injured were bystanders, who were not involved in bursting them. Sometimes, the bursting of crackers was in violation of the Supreme Court order that restricted the timings, said doctors.
The state-run Minto Eye Hospital received 26 patients. One of them was a 53-year-old man, who sustained a grievous eye injury, while riding his two-wheeler. B.L. Sujatha Rathod, director of the hospital, said that four patients were being treated for grievous eye injuries. “Two of these patients were admitted and the other two were treated for bleeding,” she said, adding that a majority of the cases involved were superficial. She recalled that last festive season, the hospital had treated 45 patients for eye injuries. “We can tell if the number of eye injuries have reduced only after the festivities end,” she said.
The Narayana Nethralaya hospitals have treated 32 patients, with half of them below the age of 18. On thursday, a 40-year-old resident of Peenya suffered a serious eye injury, after a flowerpot burst directly below his eyes. He will be kept under observation for the next 24 hours, said doctors.
At least 10 patients in the city suffered burn injuries and have been admitted in the state-run Victoria Hospital. According to hospital authorities, six of them were children, who sustained facial and hand burns.
