Two young children suffered severe burns to the mouth and throat after drinking a contaminated juice.

The young children were admitted to intensive care after drinking apple juice at a restaurant that is thought to have been contaminated with a caustic substance.

Siblings, Richie Zaragoza, 10, and Ginaya Mendoza, 4, from Pennsylvania, had been celebrating Richie’s birthday when the incident occurred.

The children’s mother Virgina Davis told Lancaster Online that Ginaya started vomiting shortly after drinking the apple juice, while Richie threw up blood, screaming: “It burns, it burns.”

The children were rushed to Hershey Medical Center, where they were treated for severe burns of the mouth and throat.

Both are understood to be in a serious but stable condition.

Restaurant manager Steve Weng told the Daily News the juice had been bought from a supermarket and served to the children in paper cups.

“I asked the waitress, and she said she just poured the apple juice from a bottle into the paper cup. That’s all,” he said, adding: “The soda area is open, so I don’t know if someone might have put something inside the apple juice.

“We cannot take care of everything. I don’t know if someone went back there. Some people they come and serve themselves.”

The boy’s father, Richard Zaragoza, told Lancaster Online that Hershey Medical Center had found that methanol among the substances in the children’s cups. Tests are ongoing.

That’s horrible! We hope they make a speedy recovery and also get some answers on how this even happened.

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