Gardaí are investigating an assault which left three teenagers requiring treatment in hospital.

The Irish Independent understands a corrosive substance was thrown at one of the teenagers – a 17-year-old boy – during the assault and there were burn marks to his clothes.

The teen, believed to be Irish soccer U17 international Tega Agberhiere, was rushed to hospital where he remained as of last night.

The alleged attack occurred in Earlscourt housing estate, Co Waterford, last Thursday, April 25. Gardaí would not be drawn on whether acid was used in the attack.

Speaking to WLRFM’s Damien Tiernan, Agberhiere’s mother claimed the substance was thrown “on his face, all over his face”.

“He is getting better but he is still in the hospital,” she told WLRFM.

“I feel the whole world was on top of me. I was really angry. Initially when I was asking myself… they could have looked for me to pour the acid on me?

“Why my son? Why him?”

It’s understood a number of youths were involved in the altercation, which occurred at around 11pm.

Local councillors said the incident is disturbing.

Fine Gael councillor Sharon Carey said her 12-year-old son told her about it when he came home from school and it left her deeply shocked.

“I was horrified when I heard about it,” she said.

Fellow councillor Pat Fitzgerald agreed that it’s a worrying development.

However, he thinks it may have been more an issue of youths messing around instead of the sinister random acid attacks that have plagued UK cities recently.

“There has been some trouble with teens in that area in the past few months,” he said of the Earlscourt area of Waterford, where the alleged incident happened.

But he said gardaí need to get on top of it.

“There seems to be the beginning of a problem we need to get to grips with,” he said.

Gardaí are appealing to anybody who may have witnessed the assault to contact Waterford garda station on 051 305300.

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