Blinded In Kitchen Explosion

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http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BNew%2BPa...923-238664.html

IT WAS a Hari Raya weekend that went horribly wrong.

Mr Abdul Jamal Salam was trying to unclog his sink after a party at home when there was a sudden explosion.

The impact was so great that the 45-year-old was flung about a metre backwards and slammed into a cabinet.

The freak accident has left him partially blind and with severe burns on his chest and face.

The incident happened on September 12.

Mr Abdul Jamal and his wife, Madam Saadiah Hadi, 43, had invited their relatives, friends and neighbours to their four-room flat in Pasir Ris to celebrate Hari Raya that day.

Cleaning up

Madam Saadiah, a housewife, told The New Paper in Malay: "The last guest left at 10pm. So we started cleaning up and I washed the dishes.

"Then I noticed that the water was not running smoothly. So I poured hot water into the sink and waited for 10 to 15 minutes."

When that didn't work, Mr Abdul Jamal, who was washing the toilet at the time, took over from his wife.

After the hot water in the sink had drained away, he started pouring declogger powder from a bottle cap into a drain hole on the floor next to the sink.

What happened next shocked them.

Madam Saadiah said: "The sudden explosion sounded like a volcano erupting. It happened in the blink of an eye. There was no warning, no bubbling or anything.

"The next thing I knew, my husband was screaming in pain. The remaining powder in the cap was all over the floor."

The explosion could have been caused by the reaction of chemicals in the declogger and hot water, said a chemist.

The blast woke their children Nur Amaliah, 16, and Aleem Siddique, 13. Said Madam Saadiah: "They were shocked and asked me, 'Mama, what happened?'

"I said, 'I don't know what happened, suddenly there was an explosion and now your father can't see.'"

Mr Abdul Jamal was writhing in pain with his face in his hands, screaming that he couldn't see anything, Madam Saadiah said.

But he managed to get up and wash his eyes with water at the sink.

"I looked at his eyes and got a shock. His eyeballs had turned white," she said.

"I panicked. I didn't know what to do. He was shouting for me to call an ambulance."

He spent about 20 minutes washing his eyes, she said.

"He was so focused on getting rid of the chemicals from his eyes that he didn't realise how badly his body had also been burnt," said Madam Saadiah.

By then, the kitchen floor had become slippery with the spilt chemicals and water.

She guided him to the bathroom to wash up.

"He showered for about 10 minutes to get rid of the chemicals from his body," she said.

Trained in first aid

"We're lucky that he is trained in emergency first aid as part of his job. Otherwise, it could have been worse."

Mr Abdul Jamal is an immigration officer with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

The ambulance arrived within minutes and he was taken to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

Madam Saadiah said: "He didn't have time to wipe himself dry so the paramedics were surprised when they saw him thoroughly wet."

Mr Abdul Jamal in the hospital after the incident.

Mr Abdul Jamal suffered 14 per cent burns on his face and chest, she said.

The burns on his chest were so bad that he needed skin-grafting with skin from his thigh, she added.

Said Madam Saadiah: "His eyes have changed from white to yellow to red and now a bit of black is returning."

But he still can't see.

She said: "Everything is blurry to him."

Madam Saadiah is worried that he may not be able to work if he loses his sight. He is the family's sole breadwinner.

"He needs to drive. If he can't see, what can he do in the future?" she said.

"I hope he can recover at least 90 per cent of his eyesight. The doctor said it can heal but it will take time."

Mr Abdul Jamal is expected to be discharged from the high dependency unit today, said a spokesman for SGH.

It has been more than a week since the accident, but Madam Saadiah is still traumatised.

She said: "Now I'm so afraid to wash the dishes. I'm scared it will happen again."

The marks left on the cabinet below the sink are a daily reminder of the freak accident.

She said: "The marks won't go away no matter how hard I scrub. Every time I look at the cabinet, the incident comes back to haunt me."

Declogger removed from shelves

THE declogger used by Mr Abdul Jamal Salam has been removed from supermarket shelves after the incident.

Checks with NTUC Fair Price, where the product was sold, confirmed this.

Investigations are underway,an NTUC Fair Price spokesman said.

"The safety of our customers is paramount, and we have temporarily withdrawn the product from our stores as a precautionary measure pending the results of our investigations into this matter with our suppliers."

The spokesman said the product has been in the market for three years and it was the first time NTUC Fair Price has received a complaint about it.

The drain cleaner, Huchs Instant Declogger, was sold in NTUC Fair Price at $3.65 per 500g bottle.

When The New Paper called the supplier, Globalpex, a woman who identified herself as an administrator, said:"We used to be the sole distributor here but now we no longer carry this product since a few weeks ago."

She said the product was from Europe and that her company supplied it only to NTUC Fair Price.

Strong alkali

A Google search threw up only two mentions of the product, both on the NTUC Fair Price website.

Anyone whose skin or eyes come into contact with decloggers must quickly wash away the chemical.

Associate Professor Peter George Manning, senior consultant in the Emergency Medicine Department of the National University Hospital, said: "Depending on where the chemical hits,wash the area thoroughly.

"Many drain cleaners contain lye - a very strong alkali - and it can burn as badly or worse than acid.

"Rinse copiously and jump into the shower. It should be removed quickly. Alkali can penetrate the skin worse than acid. After that, get to the hospital quickly."

Drain cleaners typically contain lye (sodium hydroxide) or sulfuric acid.

Either chemical is capable of causing serious chemical burns if splashed on the skin.

It may also cause blindness if it gets in contact with the eyes.

The explosion could have been caused by the reaction between baking soda, vinegar and hot water, said a chemist,who wanted to be known only as Ms Tan.

This combination - usually used in a homemade declogger - results in a violent reaction that releases a lot of heat and creates a slight explosion, she said.

She added: "The baking soda reacts with the vinegar, which is an organic acid. The chemical reaction will produce carbon dioxide, salt and water.

"The heat, which is produced by the reaction, will cause the pipe to expand so that things that are stuck will go down together with the water that is poured in."

Prevent this from happening to you

- Always follow the manufacturer's directions.

- Drainage cleaners can corrode metal pipes or cast-iron traps.

- Don't look down the drain after pouring in a chemical. The solution often heats up and gives off toxic fumes.

- Don't mix chemicals or different brands of decloggers without checking for compatibility. This can cause an explosion.

- Wear rubber gloves to prevent the chemical from burning your skin.

- Wear safety goggles to protect your eyes.

- Never use a plunger if a chemical cleaner is present in the drain; you risk splashing the chemical on yourself.

This article was first published in The New Paper.

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