Pregnant woman recovers after bleach attack

A pregnant woman is recovering after she had bleach thrown in her eyes, police said.

The mother-to-be was walking with a man when the noxious substance was thrown at them from someone in a passing car on Friday night.

Both were hit in the eyes in the incident in Ashton Old Road in Openshaw, Manchester, but while they suffered "severe discomfort" police believe they suffered no lasting damage.

Minutes after the attack a third person, a man, was also targeted with bleach from a passing car in the same road.

He was uninjured but his clothes were left stained after the substance struck his back.

Inspector Cherie Dunn, from Greater Manchester Police, said: "I am so thankful that none of the victims of these senseless attacks have been seriously injured.

"We could easily have been dealing with life-changing injuries.

"Not only that, the woman is pregnant - the worst case scenario does not bear thinking about."

The first attack happened at 8.10pm in the area in east Manchester when the couple were targeted close to a supermarket.

Some 20 minutes later the second man was hit by a substance thrown from a passing silver Ford Fiesta.

Police said that victim reported seeing a third man being egged by someone in the car before it happened.

Inspector Dunn added: "Anyone thinking that throwing bleach at people is funny or that a crime like this does not have consequences couldn't be more wrong.

"The victims here were lucky. Bleach attacks could have had catastrophic consequences."