Lodhran: Fourteen schoolchildren, including nine girls, suffered burn injuries after a laboratory chemical bottle fell and broke inside a private school in Lodhran.
According to Rescue 1122, students from Classes I to IV were playing with a ball during recess in a shared classroom at a private school near Adda Permit on the Multan bypass. Laboratory chemical bottles had reportedly been kept in an open cupboard.
Rescue officials said the ball accidentally struck the bottles, causing them to fall to the floor and break. The chemical then splashed onto the children, causing burns to different parts of their bodies.
Rescue teams responded after receiving an emergency call from the school and provided first aid before taking the injured children to the District Headquarters Hospital in Lodhran. Four ambulances, two motorcycles and other rescue vehicles were deployed during the operation.
One six year old child, Hasan, suffered burns to 27 percent of his body and was transferred to the Burns Unit at Nishtar Hospital in Multan. The other injured children were being treated at the Lodhran district hospital, according to officials cited by Dawn.
Police and local administration officials reached the school and launched an investigation. Police said the school owner, Chaudhry Aslam, had been booked for alleged negligence and had left the scene after the incident.
An FIR was registered on the complaint of the district education officer under Sections 284, 285, 286 and 337 H of the Pakistan Penal Code. Police said raids were being conducted to locate and arrest the school owner.
The incident has also raised questions about how laboratory chemicals were stored in an area accessible to young children. The investigation will determine the nature of the chemical involved and whether required safety measures were followed.
