treated in the incident

Question

0 Earlier this month, a 24-year-old man killed himself by mixing laundry detergent and cleaning fluids, releasing noxious fumes into the air that forced the evacuation of hundreds of people. His mother also fell unconscious after inhaling the fumes. In April, 14-year-old girl killed herself using the same method. Ninety neighbors were sickened by fumes and had to be treated in the incident in southwestern 01a01b01font00Japan02font02b02a00. 02br02br00I believe "in the incident" is wrong. I would say "had to be treated due to the incident".Am I right?02br02br00Thanks in advance0-

Optilang · Accepted Answer

0I agree - maybe after/following the incident 0-

BarbaraPA · Answer

0I guess it depends on what you think "the incident" was. Was it the girl's single suicide, or was it the fact that 90 other people who got sick? 0-

RayH · Answer

1blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10I believe "in the incident" is wrong. I would say "had to be treated due to the incident".Am I right?12blockquote

10Strictly speaking you may be right. 02br
00Also, "as a result of the incident", "because of the incident", etc.02br
02br
00having said that, this formulation is so common in English that when I first read your post I didn't even notice the "in the incident" language. The original is entirely acceptable as written.0-

New2grammar · Answer

0A 30-year old man and his 2 children were killed in an accident. (This is acceptable. They died in the accident, on the spot)02br
02br
00His wife though survived with minor injuries and was treated in the accident (This is probably acceptable to me, though it sounds hard on my ears. I guess it means she was treated on the spot and left, devastated of course) 02br
02br
00The original however, doesn't seem to mean the victims were treated at the scene. Therewere probably taken to the hospital and treated there. Using 'in' really bothers me because I don't know how to interpret it.0-

BarbaraPA · Answer

0N2G, Help me see why:02br
02br
01i00Two people were killed in the accident 02i00is okay, and02br
02br
01i00Three people were injured in the accident 02i00is okay, but02br
02br
01i00More than 90 people were sicked in the incident 02i00is not okay?0-

Optilang · Answer

0 01blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10and was treated in the accident12blockquote

10I would say - was treated at/at the scene of the accident 0-

RayH · Answer

1blockquote

01cite10New2grammar12cite10The original however, doesn't seem to mean the victims were treated at the scene. Therewere probably taken to the hospital and treated there. Using 'in' really bothers me because I don't know how to interpret it.12blockquote

10I see your point. But, like I said above, this formulation is ubiquitous in English. So much so that I don't give it a second though. I guess it's just a matter of lifelong exposure to the language.0-

Optilang · Answer

0People were hurt/injured during the incident/accident - but the treatment happened after.02br
00Although I agree that you will hear - 75 people were treated in the incident02br
00not so sure about 5 people were treated in the accident 0-

New2grammar · Answer

0GG, Now I see why you say it's OK.02br
02br
00I usually say "sick/injured/killed" followed by the cause "accident". In patterns like this, I'd use IN.02br
02br
00Treated doesn't follow the pattern well because Treated is not a type of damage like sick/injured/killed is.02br
02br
00Now that I've reread the sentence, the first clause says 'sick' or'injured' (I can't see it from here) and "in an incident" appears at the end of the second clause. I guess they are sharing the same "in an accident" so now, I think it's probably acceptable. It's not one of my formulations yet. As I mentioned, I usually keep the damage and the cause close together. 02br
02br
00By the way, can I say, "She was treated in an accident"? This is what I felt the first time I read the sentence, ignoring the first clause as "in an accident" is closer to the second clause.0-

BarbaraPA · Answer

0No, I have a problem with that too. She was treated at the scene of the accident, but not treated in the accident. 02br
02br
00You're getting it quite quickly. Don't stress.0-

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