Student Dies, 5 Others Go Blind From Drinking Hand Sanitizer

A Form 4 Student at Kaputir Mixed Secondary School in Turkana South Subcounty has passed on. This is after drinking hand sanitizer together with 5 other students, who have lost their sight.

The six students are aged between 16 and 17 years. Following the incident that occurred on Saturday, February 20, some students are receiving treatment at the school’s clinic. Others are recuperating at the local hospital.

One of the students said he regretted the actions. The student drank a less concentrated mixture.

“I am, however, feeling pain in the throat and stomach,”

he said

However, the school management has not made any comments about the incident, something that has angered parents. They are calling for the resignation of both the principal and the school’s board of governors.

The deceased’s body was taken to a morgue at a hospital in Turkana and will be buried next week.

Misuse of Sanitizer

Use of hand sanitizer became popularized on the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic in March last year. Due to its high alcohol content, hand sanitizer is highly effective in killing disease-causing microorganisms. However, this same factor makes some choose to misuse the product.

Speaking at Our Lady of Fatima School on January, 20th, Education CS George Magoha said that some students were starting fires in school using hand sanitizers.

“I want to tell teachers that they must not allow small-bottle sanitisers into schools. If any child has portable sanitiser, it should be taken and kept and given when the child is leaving school,”

said Magoha.

Indiscipline In Schools

This comes in the wake of recent incidences of indiscipline in Kenyan schools.

On Friday, 19th, February, students at Makueni Boys’ High School went on the rampage and stoned their school principal. The learners were apparently protesting against a rule by the school to cut their hair.

Bungoma High School and Kituro High School also recently had fire incidents which saw their dormitories getting torched.

What do you think needs to be done to curb further incidents? Let us know in the comments and keep it C.O.K.