The acid left mostly superficial blisters and swelling on the children’s skin.
Photo: REMY GABALDA/AFP/Getty Images
The authorities reported that Two children suffered what were described as “burn-like injuries” after playing on slides that had been sprayed with acid at a Massachusetts park.
Police and firefighters responded to a call at Bliss Park in Longmeadow Sunday morning for a report of a suspicious substance on playground equipment, according to information posted by the fire department on social media. .
At about the same time, firefighters and EMTs went to a nearby house for a report of two children with burns who had just left the park.
“I let the children go play. I didn’t realize there was liquid to collect at the bottom of the slide. I just assumed it was rainwater,” her mother, Ashley Thielen, told Western Mass News in Springfield.
“I didn’t really think much of it, and then my baby, who is one year old, started crying. That’s when I knew that this liquid that they were around was not water,” she added.
The acid left mostly superficial blisters and swelling on her children’s skin.Thielen said, but it could have been much worse.
“At the bottom of the slide, where it was, there was a fair amount accumulated there. I was surprised that it didn’t start to splash,” she said.
The authorities determined that someone broke into a warehouse where chemicals are kept at the park pool and stole some muriatic acid. This substance, which can be used to clean or maintain a pool’s pH balance, was spilled down three slides, authorities said.
The evidence was collected and sent to the state crime lab for forensic analysis.
No one has been charged, but authorities said the suspect or suspects may also have been injured.
“We suspect that the perpetrators may have suffered acid burns to their hands or arms and their clothing may show signs of being degraded by contact with acid,” said the statement issued by the Longmeadow fire department, a city adjacent to Springfield in the west. Massachusetts.
“If you know of anyone with new burns on their hands or arms or may have had burned clothing, please also notify Longmeadow police,” they said.
The playground has been cleared of hazardous materials but remains fenced.
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