Children suffer burns from slides doused with acid in playground

Two children playing at a Massachusetts playground suffered “burn-like” injuries from acid that had been poured onto the slides, authorities said on Monday. 

Police responded to a report of a “suspicious substance” on the playground equipment at the Bliss Park playground on Sunday morning, according to a press release from the Longmeadow Fire Department. 

“I let the kids go play. I did notice that there was liquid kind of collected at the bottom of the slide. I thought – I just assumed it was rainwater,” Ashley Thielen, the mother of the two children who were injured, told CNN affiliate WGGB.

“And then my baby, who’s one, just started crying… So that was when I kind of knew that this liquid that they were around was not water,” she continued.

Investigators identified the liquid as muriatic acid—also known as hydrochloric acid—used for clearing and disinfecting swimming pools. The acid was found on all three slides in the park.

The park usually has muriatic acid stored in the pump room in the basement of the pool building. Authorities believe the suspects broke into the pump room, despite it being a “secured area.” The suspects had to climb two fences and entered through a ventilation shaft to access the acid. 

“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 release states.

The suspect or suspects remain at large. Massachusetts State Police crime lab gathered evidence in the playground and pump room, which will be subjected to forensic analysis and fingerprinting to try to identify the suspects.  

The children injured in the incident suffered mostly superficial wounds and are expected to recover. However, authorities and parents agree that the damage could have been much worse. 

Bliss Park has been professionally cleaned and all hazardous materials were removed. However, it remains fenced off to visitors.