nitrogen experiment
18 injured in explosion in Spain – many children affected
Rescue services stand in front of the Casa de Cultura in Girona (Catalonia, Spain) after the explosion. A total of 18 people from the audience were injured during the demonstration of the chemistry experiment
© Glòria Sánchez/EUROPA PRESS / DPA
A failed nitrogen experiment at a science festival in Spain caused an explosion. 18 people were injured, some seriously.
An explosion at a science festival in north-east Spain injured 18 people, some seriously – including ten children between the ages of three and 13. The accident happened late Friday evening during the demonstration of an experiment in the House of Culture in Girona, Catalonia, about 100 kilometers northeast of Barcelona, as reported by the media on Saturday, citing the authorities and hospital spokesmen.
Mainly families at screening in Spain
During a demonstration as part of the festival organized by the University of Girona (UdG), a container of liquid nitrogen exploded in front of an audience of 200 to 300 people, made up mostly of families, it said. Those affected suffered no burns. However, most of them were injured by parts of the exploded metal canister.
A five-year-old suffered the worst injuries. She is now being treated in Girona hospital alongside four other seriously injured people – two other children aged ten and twelve, a 47-year-old and a 31-year-old man. The remaining 13 injured were discharged from the hospital between Friday evening and Saturday.
UdG spokesman Salvador Martí assured that the experiment with the liquid nitrogen had often been carried out without any problems. It was “incomprehensible” why the accident happened this time. The Catalan police will investigate, Martí said.