STUTTGART: A dog found a severed human finger in the south-western German city of Stuttgart that had been blown off the hand of a 33-year-old man by a firecracker on New Year's Eve, police said on Thursday.

The dog discovered the severed finger on New Year's Day, and the dog's owner reported the grisly discovery to police, a Stuttgart police spokeswoman told dpa on Thursday.

Officers took the finger to the hospital, although it wasn't immediately clear if doctors were still able to reattach the missing digit.

New Year's celebrations in Germany were marred by scores of injuries and at least five deaths from fireworks explosions.

In Leipzig, an eight-year-old boy lost several fingers on New Year's Day after bringing home an unexploded firework he discovered on the ground.

According to the hospital where the boy is being treated, the child brought the firework home and lit it, hoping to throw it out the window. It exploded in the child's hand instead.

-- BERNAMA