A woman from China had the shock of her life when she popped a firecracker mistaking it for a firecracker resulting in mouth injuries as it exploded in her mouth.
The woman from Chengdu in southwestern China's Sichuan province shared her experience on social media, saying that the packaging of a specific type of firecracker closely resembles that of the candies. The resemblance in packaging led her to mistakenly consume the firecracker, commonly known as 'Shuang pao' in China, causing injury to her mouth, reported SCMP.
Shuang Pao literally translates to "smash firecracker" ignites without a flame and can explode with a loud "pop" simply by being dropped or subjected to pressure, such as being stepped on, as per the report.
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The fiercracker is widely used in occasions such as weddings, parties, and family gatherings, particularly during the Lunar New Year due to its convenience, uniqueness, and celebratory appeal.
The woman, surnamed Wu, said the firecracker in question was brought home by her younger brother.
“I was watching TV at home with the lights off in the living room when my brother returned with a bag of snacks. I thought it resembled the taro milk candies I enjoyed as a child, so I opened one and put it in my mouth. That is when it exploded," she recounted while speaking to local media.
Initially, she did not feel any pain and just detected the smell of gunpowder in my mouth. “At that moment, I was stunned," she said. Perhaps I was numb because, despite the explosion, I felt no discomfort while eating or brushing my teeth,” she continued.
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The photos of firecracker shared by the woman suggested that they were wrapped in a plastic film covered it with aluminium foil, giving it an impression of medicine.
"Shouldn’t these firecrackers be packaged in a box?" she questioned. Following the incident, many Chinese social media users agreed with Wu about the capsule-like packaging being misleading.
Some netizens uploaded images of firecrackers' packaging to image recognition search engines, which identified it as “confectionery”.