Operations Manager Espen Reite in the Southeast Police District says that there will be talk of primary school students, and that the incident must have happened during school hours.
– We received a message from a primary school at Stathelle in Telemark just before 3 pm about some children who had been on a school trip. They had taken over a fence and found a container that possibly contains nitric acid.
– We have no information that the boys have received any acid on the body. However, it is possible that they may have inhaled some vapors that may be harmful.
The children were taken to the emergency room for a check-up. The police have opened an investigation case to get an overview of what has happened and the extent of the damage.
Reite says the extent of the damage to the boys is unknown to the police.
Two hospitalized
Geir Jørgen Bekkevold, communications director at Telemark Hospital, tells the newspaper Varden that two of the children are now admitted to the pediatric ward.
He also says that he can not provide information about the health status of the children due to privacy.
VG has spoken with the principal at Stathelle primary school, Gro Lien, who says that the children who were sent home have not had any symptoms.
Area where many children travel
We are talking about eight boys in the age of 10 who came into contact with the acid. The kids are said to have played in the area called Brannbakken.
According to local acquaintances, whom Varden has spoken to, this is an area where many children travel every day. There is a very popular playground next to the industrial site.
Nitric acid is a strong acid that is used, among other things, for the production of artificial fertilizers and explosives. Inhalation of nitric acid vapor leads to catarrh of the bronchi, pneumonia and etching of the alveoli and of the digestive organs, according to Large Norwegian encyclopedia.
HAZARDOUS ACID: The area where the children came in contact with nitric acid.
Photo: Ole Oskar Eriksen / NRK
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Will review
The father of one of the boys, Rune Sørensen, thinks it is serious that such things are not locked inside. He says to TA.no that the school should report the company that had the acid left out.
– This must be reported. The tub was outside and they could just turn it on and it opened.
The mayor of Bamble municipality, Hallgeir Kjeldal, is also provoked.
– This is an open area, and it is quite serious that these children have gained access to the drug in this way. I think that this is first and foremost now a police matter that must be investigated, says the mayor to NRK.
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