Rotterdam Eye Hospital says 22 young men were admitted on New Year’s Eve with eye injuries caused by fireworks.

Three of them had to have an eye removed, bringing this year's total to six. In the past week, three boys lost an eye.

In 75 percent of the eye incidents the damage was caused by fireworks set off by other people.

The association of eye doctors began a campaign last year to bring down the number of incidents of eye damage caused by fireworks at New Year.

Last year 15 people lost an eye out of 265 cases of eye injuries. Most of the victims were 15-year-old boys.

The Dutch spent 68 million euros on fireworks this year, which is more than last year. Police confiscated 240,000 kilos of illegal fireworks, which is also up on last year.

Final figures on this year's injuries will be published at the end of the first week of January.

Photo: eye - Flickr/Helgabi