Boiling mineral water caused burns to a mother and her baby in the Zlatograd village of Erma Reka after a hose from a tanker broke, the mayor of the village Boryana Likova announced, BTA reports.
The incident dates back to the beginning of this week.
The mother, who was born in the village but has lived in Sofia for many years, and her baby– a one-year-old boy were walking down the street. At that time, a driver at a spa hotel in Zlatograd was filling the tank with mineral water. The hose broke and the boiling water with a temperature of over 88 degrees burned the mother and baby.
The woman was more seriously injured, with first, second and third degree burns on her body. The stroller's canopy protected the baby from serious burns, the mayor explained.
The spokeswoman for the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Smolyan, Elena Stoilova, announced that a report of the incident had been received and an investigation had been initiated into the case. When asked why information about the incident was missing from the police bulletin, she replied that neither a quick investigation nor a pre-trial investigation was initiated for what happened, and because of this fact the case was not made public.
By order of the mayor of Zlatograd, the use of mineral water from the well in the village of Erma Reka was suspended. “Until rules are adopted that guarantee the safe use of water, as well as the direct and indirect benefit for the municipality, I have prohibited water withdrawal from the well“, Miroslav Yanchev - mayor of Zlatograd - told BTA. He added that in addition to the police, the Labor Inspectorate is also investigating the case.
Yanchev spoke with the injured woman, who was initially treated at the hospital in Zlatograd, and then at the University Multi-Profile Hospital for Active Treatment and Emergency Medicine (UMBALSM) “N.I.Pirogov“. She has been discharged from the hospital and indicated that there should be rules and regulations for the use of mineral water in the village, the mayor also said.
The thermal water from a borehole in the village of Erma Reka springs from a depth of 190 meters and has a temperature between 88 and 90 degrees. Until now, the mineral water has been used free of charge by hotels in Zlatograd, which transported it in tankers.