BAHAWALPUR: As many as 14 schoolchildren, including nine girls, suffered burns allegedly when some bottles containing an acidic chemical exploded after falling on the floor of the laboratory of a private school at Lodhran.
According to Lodhran Rescue 1122 media coordinator Mr Safdar, students from Class I to IV of a private school at Adda Permit near Multan bypass were playing with a ball during recess time in a joint classroom, where bottles of a laboratory chemical were kept in an open cupboard.
He says that the ball accidentally hit the bottles, which fell on the floor and exploded. As a result, the acidic chemical fell on the schoolchildren, causing burns to their body parts.
On receipt of an emergency call from the school administration, Rescue 1122 teams, along with four ambulances, two motorbikes, a rescue vehicle and a fire-extinguisher rushed to the scene and rendered first aid to the affected children, who were shifted to the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital.
On receipt of information about the incident, local officials of police and administration also reached the scene and started investigations.
Officials say that the school owner fled away immediately after the incident.
They say that one of the affected children, Hasan (6), who suffered 27 percent burns, was shifted to the Burns Unit of Nishtar Hospital, Multan, for treatment.
Other affected children, identified as Abiya (5), Hasnian (11), Abdul Rauf (8), Hadia Noor (6), Yasmeen (5), Kinza (5), Zoya (6), Natasha (5), Mursileen (6), Umaira (10), Aliza (14), Ehsan (4) and Rabia Bibi (12), are being treated in the DHQ hospital.
Lodhran police PRO Shani Muhammad Ramzan told Dawn by cell phone that fleeing school owner Chaudhry Aslam has been booked for his alleged negligence.
The police have registered FIR No 1481/26 under sections 284, 285, 286 and 337-H of the PPC on the complaint of District Education Officer (DEO) Mazhar Madni.
In his complaint the DEO alleged that the incident took place due to negligence and carelessness of the school owner, who is yet to be arrested. The PRO says raids are being conducted to arrest him.
Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2026.
