Teacher Blinds Her Students

Illawarra Mercury

Thursday June 3, 2004

A PERUVIAN school teacher blinded four of her pupils and left 20 suffering from severe eye irritation after she used a traditional hair shampoo to wash away hair lice.

The teacher used a mixture of alcohol and seeds from the cherimoya fruit on the children aged between 4-5 in the remote coastal town of Paijan, 570km north of Lima.

The mixture had run down into the children's eyes and ``has affected four children who cannot see. It has damaged their retinas", an assistant hospital nurse said.

The four are totally blinded, but doctors have yet to determine whether this is permanent.