Beaker Explosion During Rocket Experiment
Two students were injured in an explosion during a rocket-related experiment at a high school in Daegu.
On the 14th, the Daegu Fire Safety Headquarters reported that a fire broke out around 12:30 PM the previous day in the chemistry lab of a high school located in Yonggye-dong, Dong-gu. At the time, a rocket-related chemical experiment was being conducted in the chemistry lab, and it is known that a beaker exploded during the experiment. When the accident occurred, there was one teacher and three students in the chemistry lab. As a result of the accident, student A (18) suffered burns on both arms and face, and student B (18) sustained burns on a finger and is receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
On the 13th, a fire broke out during an experiment in the chemistry lab of a high school in Dong-gu, Daegu. [Photo by Daegu Fire Safety Headquarters]
The police and fire authorities are investigating the exact cause and circumstances of the accident, which is believed to have been caused by a beaker explosion during the process of boiling a mixture of calcium nitrate and sugar.
Meanwhile, various accidents in high school laboratories continue to occur.
On August 23rd last year, around 7:27 PM, a student was burned while making a rocket propellant in a high school laboratory in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. The student was making rocket candy, a rocket propellant using sugar as fuel, when flames erupted during the experiment, causing first-degree burns on the face and second-degree burns on the hands. The student was transported to a hospital. Other students and the supervising teacher present in the lab were not injured.
Earlier, on May 23rd last year, around 7:05 PM, a burn accident occurred in a high school laboratory in Yeongcheon-si, Gyeongbuk. Two female students suffered second-degree burns and were transported to a hospital after sulfuric acid in a dropper splashed onto their legs during an experiment.
Also, on the 24th of the same month at 2:34 PM, three high school students were burned in an accident during a solid fuel propellant experiment at a high school laboratory in Wonju-si, Gangwon. These students sustained first- to second-degree burns on their arms and received treatment at a nearby hospital.
At the time of the accident, about 20 students were participating in club activities in the laboratory, conducting solid fuel propellant experiments. The accident is known to have occurred when a beaker broke while dissolving potassium nitrate, a Class 1 hazardous material, in an alcohol lamp, causing the substances inside the beaker to splash onto the students' arms and other areas.
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