Train chemical attack puts two Cape Town children in hospital

Two children became violently ill and were admitted to hospital after a cocktail of pool chemicals and domestic detergent was sprayed into a Cape Town train carriage.

City of Cape Town metro police spokesman Wayne Dyason said the substance was sprayed into the carriage on Sunday at St James Station‚ on the False Bay coastline‚ by a group of people who had just disembarked.

“The mother of the children [aged 2 and 7] described a sharp chemical smell but thought nothing of it‚” Dyason said on Friday.

“At Kalk Bay [the next station] the kids became violently ill and started vomiting continuously. Law enforcement officers called for an ambulance and they were rushed to False Bay Hospital in Fish Hoek.

“Doctors confirmed that the children inhaled a mixture of pool chemicals and a domestic detergent. They were kept in the hospital and released the next day. The two-year-old is still not fully recovered.”