South Dakota Boy Burned by Hot Chocolate at Mankato Motel

MANKATO (AP) — A Mankato motel is investigating a South Dakota woman's report that her 11-year-old son was badly burned after spilling the motel's hot chocolate on himself.

Melissa Mentele of Emery, South Dakota, says her son suffered first- and second-degree burns while getting hot chocolate from a self-serve machine at a Holiday Inn Express in July. The sixth-grader was in Makato for the Mankato Vikings' training camp.

Mentele says she believes the water was too hot. She says her son was with his grandmother, who thought the motel ignored her concerns.

Holiday Inn Express official Shirley Baker says the company is investigating and declined further comment.

Mentele says her son may need a skin graft, and she's still waiting for the motel's promised insurance information.