Man loses hand because of fireworks

Several cases of people losing their fingers because of fireworks during New Year celebration have occurred. Total of 43 people were injured only in Ulaanbaatar, 10 of them are being treated in National Trauma Ontology Center.
There are also three people in hospital in Erdenet city. One man even lost both hands because of fireworks.

Surgeon in Microsurgery Clinics of Trauma Hospital, D.Davaajargal, said a patient from Khuvsgul province is in serious condition. The patients are recovering fast.

Injured patients told the media that fireworks had Chinese instructions and were sold everywhere despite being banned. They also complained that citizens are the ones who are suffering from lack of work of officials who are unable to control the activity of imported goods. The patients were furious because the officials did not take proper measures against selling such dangerous items everywhere. Regional police departments were notified of these cases and investigation has begun. However brand of fireworks are not revealed.

The General Customs Authority /GSA/ officials said that firework items are not banned, but must be imported by a special permission from Ministry for Mineral Resources and Energy. Since it is nearly impossible to check all the luggage that comes through the border, there were only a few cases that were caught trying to import fireworks so far. There are only two companies that are allowed to import fireworks: “Protech” and “Blastic”.

Our journalist talks to control inspector of mining and geology of Professional Monitoring Agency /PMA/, S.Bold, to define an organization that control firework items. Both companies import and sell goods that are internationally recognized from Chinese factories.

There are various types of firework items, and using products without instructions could be extremely dangerous. There are instructions such as holding with hands is prohibited. There are some firework items that must be set off at least three meters away.