Teen Loses Four Fingers in Homemade Firecracker Explosion
In Maha Sarakham Province, a 16-year-old boy lost four fingers after attempting to recreate a social media video by packing firecracker powder into a metal pipe. The explosion also injured his right hand, arms, legs and caused hearing damage. Hospital officials warned parents to supervise children during the end of Buddhist Lent to prevent similar accidents.
The teenager, from Kantarawichai District in Maha Sarakham Province, purchased about 300 firecrackers for 300 baht from a local shop. He extracted the explosive powder from roughly 50 of the firecrackers and packed it into a steel tube. While using a wooden rod to tamp the powder, with his left hand holding the tube and his right hand holding the rod, the device detonated suddenly. The blast ripped off four fingers on his left hand, caused injuries to his right hand, arms and legs, and left him with ringing in his ears. Relatives who heard the explosion rushed him to a community hospital before he was transferred to the orthopedic ward at Maha Sarakham Hospital. Doctors cleaned the wounds, assessed the damage, removed dead tissue and performed emergency surgery on the severed fingers. The hospital director said injuries from firecrackers resemble blast injuries, are difficult to treat because the wounds are often contaminated with powder and involve areas rich in nerves and joints. He warned that the force can destroy blood vessels, risking tissue death and possible amputation, and stressed that proper cleaning may require a sterile operating room to prevent infection. He urged parents to supervise their children closely, especially during festivals and traditional events, and to prevent them from tampering with firecrackers or placing them in tubes or other containers. The boy's father added that his son currently lives with his grandmother while he works away from home, so he was unaware of the purchase. He expressed shock at the severity of the injuries and echoed the call for parents to keep children away from hazardous materials.
