Photo: Getty Images
Two children suffered minor chemical burns after going down a slide at Bliss Park in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Ashley Thielen told WGGB that she took her two kids to the park and knew something was wrong when her one-year-old started crying after going down the slide.
"I let the kids go play. I didn't notice that there was liquid to collect at the bottom of the slide," Thielen told the news station. "I just assumed it was rainwater. I didn't really think much of it, and then, my baby, who is one, just started crying. That was when I knew this liquid that they were around wasn't water."
Thielen said that her children's injuries were superficial and they will be fine.
The Longmeadow Police Department said that three of the slides were covered in muriatic acid, a watered-down version of hydrochloric acid used to clean and disinfect pools. Investigators said that the acid was stolen from the pump room in the basement of the park's pool building.
The thieves jumped two fences and then climbed through a ventilation shaft to reach the room where the chemicals were being stored.
"A great deal of effort was employed to enter this space. We suspect that the perpetrators may have suffered acid burns to their hands or arms, and their clothing may have indications of being degraded from contact with the acid," the department said.
No arrests have been made, and authorities are asking the public for any help in identifying the suspects.