By Embum Majid

ALOR SETAR, Malaysia - A 10-year-old girl had to undergo surgery after a rocket-type firecracker hit her in the eye.

Nor Syafiqah Abd Halim. 10, underwent the three-hour operation on Tuesday following the 8.30pm incident on Monday.

Her mother, Noraishah Mohd Saad, said yesterday that Nor Syafiqah could still not see clearly with the eye.

"The doctor did not say if there would be permanent damage to the eye.

"I pray for the best," she said at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital here where her daughter is warded.

Nor Syafiqah, a pupil of SK Peremba here, was waiting under a tree at Taman Seri Abadi at Jalan Kuala Kedah here for a friend to go to the surau to perform terawih prayers when the incident occurred.

A 17-year-old boy, her neighbour, was said to be playing with the firecracker several metres away.

It was learnt that the firecracker hit Nor Syafiqah in the right eye before falling to the ground and exploding.

Noraishah, 47, said other children who witnessed the incident told her that her daughter cried after she was hit by the firecracker and the boy immediately came to her aid.

"He sent my daughter to my next door neighbour's house before the neighbour sent her home. Blood was oozing from her eye and we rushed her to the hospital for treatment," she said.

Kota Setar OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Ghafar Rajab said police were still looking for the boy to facilitate investigations.

"We went to his house on Tuesday but he has gone missing," he said yesterday.

-The Star/Asia News Network