Bloody Asian start to 2002

A victim of a firecracker accident is rushed to hospital for treatment

HONG KONG, China -- New year revelry has left a sour taste in some Asian countries, with raucous celebrations leading to a heavy death toll in the region.

Nearly 500 people were injured throughout the Philippines due to stray bullets and firecracker accidents during the New Year festivities while in Bangkok, nearly 400 people have died on Thai roads since the start of the New Year holidays.

In Indonesia, a reveler was killed in a blast in Jakarta early Tuesday, and three people were injured in a series of explosions at churches on Sulawesi island.

Thailand's Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan told Reuters news agency that 23,623 cases of injuries reported between last Thursday and Tuesday were the result of road accidents.

Sudarat said that on average, 219 people have been injured and four have died in road accidents every hour in Thailand during this New Year festival. More than half of the deaths were attributed to drink-driving.

But Sudarat was quick to note that the number of casualties from road accidents this New Year was higher than previous years, during which less than 300 people died.

Bullets and firecrackers

A Philippines police report said 453 people were hurt by firecrackers and 22 wounded by stray bullets in raucous parties all over the country.

The figure did not include the 107 hurt over Christmas.

The country's Health department meanwhile reported that 29-year-old man died on New Year's Eve in central Cebu province from firecracker burns.

New Year celebrations are traditionally bloody in the Philippines where people use powerful firecrackers to greet the New Year, believing it would expel evil spirits

Police and health officials here also said that the toll this year was lower than at the start of 2001, when six people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the celebrations.

Religious war

A man lost his leg when a hand grenade exploded outside a shopping mall in Jakarta just before dawn, police said.

He later died in the hospital, medical officials said. There was no word on a motive for the blast.

Three of the explosions in the central Sulawesi provincial capital, Palu, took place just before midnight as thousands of people celebrated on the streets.

One person was injured. The blasts shattered windows at two churches.

A fourth explosion occurred Tuesday morning at the town's Pantekosta church, seriously injuring two policemen who were examining the device, witnesses said.

Authorities believe that the attacks were designed to cause chaos in the province, where there has been sporadic fighting between Muslims and Christians for the past three years.

Last month, Christians and Muslims on the island about 1,000 miles northeast of Jakarta agreed to a government-sponsored peace deal to end the conflict that has claimed about 1,000 lives.

Only five percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Christian. Eighty-five percent are Muslim.

Dhaka arrests

Bangladeshi police said Tuesday that 76 revellers were detained for hooliganism during New Year celebrations.

Police said some of the revellers were detained after they stayed at bars after official closing hours.

Only minor incidents were reported during celebrations, although police as a precaution cordoned off Dhaka's diplomatic areas,