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A child has been announced dead after heavy gunfire was reported in several villages in towns across Lebanon to mark New Year’s celebrations.

According to Lebanon’s MTV News, the child was killed in Akkar, despite authorities warning people to take necessary precautions prior to the celebrations.

The child has been identified as six-year-old Sajida Shoman, who is from the Wadi Khaled area in Akkar.

Reports state she was killed by a stray bullet as people were shooting randomly in the air.

A number of solar panels and windows of several cars were also smashed due to the gunfire.

This is not the first time celebratory gunfire has caused injury or death in the country.

In August 2023, a seven-year-old girl called Naya Hama died in hospital after a stray bullet hit her in the head amidst celebrations to mark the release of high school exam results.

Her death sparked immediate backlash and grief, and triggered the education minister Abbas Halai, to denounce it as "senseless tradition" and called on people to "stop turning our joy into funerals".

Following Hama’s funeral last year, a Lebanese member of parliament announced he would present a law named after Hama to increase penalties for celebratory shooting and make event hosts legally responsible for any shootings carried out.

Celebratory shooting was made illegal in the country in 1959, however deaths due to stray bullets from such incidents have continued.

A Lebanese NGO, Permanent Peace Movement, said 2017 was one of the worst years for deaths from celebratory shooting, stating that 90 people were killed.

Another Lebanese organisation, Stray Bullets Kill Joy, said while the situation has improved in recent years since the law became stricter, around 100 people are still injured every year by celebratory shooting.

Such shootings are hard to control with around one third of citizens owning a firearm and many unaware of the risks related to the tradition.