Boy dies after accidentally drinking silver cleaner

A 7-year-old boy died on Thursday morning after he accidentally drank cyanide-laced silver cleaner from a soda bottle in their house in Makati City.

A police report said the child was admitted at Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) at 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday although he was “already unresponsive and in cardiorespiratory distress.”

The boy died around 4 a.m. the next day, an OsMak doctor confirmed to the police, according to a report signed by Police Lt. Mylene Juan, Makati police women and children’s protection desk officer in charge.

The victim’s mother told investigators that her other son saw his brother lying on the floor inside the toilet “with stiffened muscles and rolling eyeballs as if having convulsions.”

She said her son might have accidentally drank the silver cleaner she had placed in a soda bottle inside the toilet.

Child neglect?

Police said they are still investigating whether the boy’s parents could be held liable for child neglect, a criminal charge under Republic Act No. 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned the public against buying, using and storing silver cleaning products containing cyanide.

It said that inhaling, ingesting or absorbing through the skin the poisonous substance could cause serious injury, leading “to acute poisoning or death.”