Hospitals across Vietnam treated 130 people for injuries caused by firecrackers during the lunar new year holiday period, up from 98 cases last Tet, according to the Ministry of Health.
Vietnam banned the production, trade and use of firecrackers for safety reasons back in 1994.
Illegal firecracker business fuelled by Tet
At first the ban had disappointed some who believed that firecrackers were the hallmark of the Lunar New Year, saying they could scare off evil spirits and bring good luck.
Violations were rare after the ban, but have become more common in recent years in several northern provinces, including Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, Ha Giang and Quang Binh.
Since August 2016, customs officials in the northern border province of Lang Son detected 25 firecracker smuggling cases, seizing nearly 500 kilogrammes of fireworks. Police of the central province of Quang Binh’s Ba Don Town also confiscated roughly 100 kilos of firecrackers.
The Ministry of Health also reported that hospitals nationwide received 2,203 patients admitted due to fighting during Tet, including 14 fatalities.