The mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrez, expressed his indignation at the 32 gunpowder injuries recorded in the city since December 1, making an urgent call to citizen conscience.
“There are diseases that arrive and diseases that are sought. It is incredible, after everything that is known, after everything that is warned, that gunpowder is harmful, that gunpowder can cause serious burns, even amputations”said the president.
Four children under 5 years old injured
According to the report presented by the mayor, of the 32 injured, 8 are women (25%) and 24 are men (75%). The most worrying thing is that there are 4 burned children between 0 and 5 years of age.
“That is irresponsible on the part of parents, for God’s sake. Children have to be taken care of,” Fico expressed.
In addition, between 6 and 11 years old there is one burn, between 12 and 17 years old there are 6 injured, and over 18 years old there are 21 burned people.
Last 24 hours: three minors affected
In the last 24 hours, three children were injured in different events. The first case corresponds to a 16-year-old boy who suffered lacerations and second-degree burns on his legs and hand after handling flyers on December 10.
During that same period, a one-year-old baby ended up with first-degree burns on his arms. The minor was not handling gunpowder; The accident occurred while he was observing a “stick,” one of the most common pyrotechnic devices.
Hours later, a 5-year-old boy suffered hearing damage after witnessing the lighting of sparklers.
Affected handlers and observers
The mayor explained that of the 32 injured, 17 people (53%) manipulated gunpowder directly. The rest are people who were around as observers or passed by the site: 13 people (41%) were observers, “many times the children are there, the families who send gunpowder next to the children”, and 2 people (6%) were simply passing by the place without having anything to do with the event.
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Medellin City
Burn unit at 100% occupancy
Health authorities reported that the Medellín burn unit continues to have 100% occupancy, which aggravates the situation in an already saturated health system.
Affectation to animals
Fico also referred to the impact of gunpowder on pets and wildlife: “Gunpowder really affects little animals. The reports we receive, for example, from the Metropolitan Area, from the Environmental Police, it hurts a lot to see how after these large gunpowder schemes there are little animals that die.”
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“My call is to become aware. I tell you one thing: it is impossible to have a police officer for every citizen. Citizen culture is needed,” the mayor emphasized.
And he added: “Are you really expecting one of your children to lose an eye or a child to lose their life, even from serious burns? What we see is not right.”
Although the department has not recorded, for now, poisoning by white phosphorus or methanol, the authorities reiterated the call to families to avoid the use of gunpowder, insisting that the majority of the victims are minors who were simply near the devices.
Courtesy photo.
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