MADURAI: The ‘Happy Deepavali 2026’ festival turned out to be a horror in hundreds of families as firecracker related eye injuries this year were very serious in proportion as per the data released by Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai today.
As many as 1,464 persons with eye injuries that were caused while bursting crackers were rushed to Aravind Eye Care System hospitals between 4th and 9th November 2026 with injuries ranging from minor cases to the deadly level injuries that led to removal of their one eye for eight persons who suffered very severe damage to their eyes because of firecrackers.
“As eye doctors, we feel sad that many families lost happiness this year due to eye injuries and this number is very high. Of the total 1,464 cases, the number of persons under the age of 18 years is 834 and it comes to 57% of the total injuries. What is more worrying is that children aged 6yrs to 12yrs were the largest single group with 495 patients. Another 188 were aged 13 to 17 yrs while there are 151 between 0 and 5 years,” Dr.Usha Kim, Regional Director (HR), Aravind Eye Care System, told reporters at a press meet conducted by Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai today-November 10th 2026- to explain about the damage done to eyes while bursting fire crackers.
This data covers the Aravind centres including Coimbatore and Chennai also while the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai had reported 263 firecracker-related eye injuries during the same period of 4th to 9th November 2026.
WHO ALL SUFFERED EYE INJURIES?:
The patient data analysis report of Aravind Eye Hospital shows that 675 were injured while lighting crackers, 489 got injured in their eyes while simply watching and another 135 were passing by.
“Our analysis also says that 125 persons were hurt while handling crackers that had not exploded. From the overall number of 1,464 firecracker-related eye injuries in this year’s Diwali festival time, more than half were children, and 1,125 cases were male and 339 were female. So, it is clear that young boys must be very careful while bursting crackers and their excitement appears to be putting them at risk. The sad part in this data report is that there is a pregnant lady whose eyes were injured and also a two-month old tender baby whose eyes were hurt because of crackers,” Dr.Usha Kim has said in the media-briefing along with Dr.R.Kim, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai.
WHICH CRACKERS HURT THE MOST?:
The data also points to the type of crackers that caused the damage to eyes and the analysis report says that burst-type crackers were responsible for 710 injuries while ‘bijili’ crackers was next in the list by hurting 174 persons, rockets (92), flower pots (153 were injured) and sparklers which are considered as safe for small children had accounted for injuring 168 patients.
“Aravind’s doctors recorded a a range of severe injuries, damage to the retina etc. Some require complex surgery and long follow-up. For some, there is a threat of permanent loss of vision. What we are giving today is a preliminary analysis report. We have to wait for the final outcomes, and it is too early to say how many of the 1,464 persons will recover fully. At this stage, our appeal to the people is to use safety glasses while bursting firecrackers and do not treat crackers as toys,” the Aravind Eye Hospital’s report released in Madurai today has said.
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