A 45-year-old man was killed, more than 130 people were injured and thousands were left homeless by fires and other accidents during New Year's Eve celebrations in the Philippines.
The lone fatality in Thursday's revelry was drunk when he hugged a lighted firecracker in Manila, said Health Secretary Janette Garin.
The overnight celebrations also left 131 people injured from firecrackers and celebratory gunfire, bringing to 384 the number of victims since December 21, Garin said.
The figure was 53 per cent lower than last year, she said.
At least four fires struck residential areas in the first hours of 2016 in metro Manila, a megacity of nearly 12 million people, said Director Ariel Barayuga, chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection.
One of the fires was caused by a wayward firecracker in the district of Tondo in Manila City, Barayuga said.
The fire gutted about 1000 houses, displacing more than 3000 people, he added.
Filipinos traditionally set off fireworks and some also fire guns into the air in the belief that the noise drives away bad luck and attracts good fortune for the coming year.
On Christmas Eve, a 9-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet, while the Department of Health said it recorded at least four people injured from celebratory gunfire in the past 10 days.
The department has been pushing for a total ban on the use of firecrackers during New Year's Eve celebrations.
"Every year, we see the things that we need to strengthen in order to achieve our goal, and eventually, we do hope that we will attain zero casualties from fireworks or firecrackers during the holidays," Garin said in a press conference.
