Mercury scare for student of SMK Balai Ringin

KUCHING: A 14-year old student, Helena Randi from SMK Balai Ringin, had a contamination scare when mercury spilled on her right hand during a laboratory lesson.

It was unclear how the mercury spill happened but Helena was rushed to a nearby clinic by the school’s principal for treatment.

According to the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department ( Bomba), they received a call regarding a mercury spill in SMK Balai Ringin at 8.30am.

Mobilising a unit from the Serian Bomba department, it arrived at the school which is located some 27km from Serian town at 8.53am.

The mercury spill was cleaned via solid method by using cello-tape instead of a water solution to stop the chemical reaction from spreading.

The affected area, according to Bomba, was then doused with ‘Chlorox’ to neutralise the chemical elements of mercury.

The cleaning up process ended at 9.17am.

Meanwhile, a house – and a vehicle – was razed to the ground at Pengkalan Pantu, Sri Aman on Sunday night.

Bomba Sri Aman, located some 61km from the scene, received a distress call at 8.30pm and only managed to arrive at the scene at 9.30pm, by which time the whole house and vehicle had already burnt out.

Bomba then pumped water from a nearby river to douse the flames by 10.10pm.