KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 — Two siblings were scalded when they came into contact with a chemical powder used by their neighbour to clean a clogged drain pipe on January 31.
Serdang district police chief ACP A. A. Anbalagan said that in the incident at around 9.30pm in an apartment in Seri Kembangan, a nine-year-old boy suffered severe burns on his head and body while his seven-year-old sister had burns on her thigh.
He said the children’s mother heard the sound of an explosion and the screams of her son, who was in the kitchen, and realised that her two children had been in contact with a liquid believed to be soda powder acid from the drainage pipe on the top floor of her apartment unit.
Anbalagan, in a statement today, said a preliminary investigation revealed that the unit owner on the top floor of their house had used soda powder by putting it in the pipe of their sink to clean the clogged pipe.
A statement was recorded from the owner on the second floor, who admitted that he used a type of soda powder, which he bought online for about RM50, he said.
Anbalagan said the boy, who suffered third-degree burns to his forehead, head, shoulders, body, arms, and thighs, is now in stable condition and is still being treated in the intensive care unit at Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL), while his younger sister was allowed to go home after outpatient treatment.
The case is being investigated under Section 326 of the Penal Code and Section 7 of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958.
— Bernama
