By Emma Barrett
emma@newsroom.byu.edu
Thirteen students and one teacher were injured in a chemistry class explosion at South Cache 8/9 Center in Hyrum, Utah, Thursday morning, Nov. 2.
Kirk McRae, human resource director for Cache County Public Schools, said the explosion happened during an eighth-grade chemistry class.
McRae said the teacher was performing an experiment that involved mixing different chemicals in front of approximately 30 students. Although the experiment had been performed safely in the past, this time the chemicals exploded, shooting glass across the room.
Thirteen students and the teacher received laceration injuries from the flying glass, McRae said.
He said all of the students in the classroom were eventually taken to the hospital for evaluation. Most students were released before Thursday afternoon, but two students are still in the hospital and will require minor surgery.
'We feel fortunate that the injuries weren't worse than they were,' McRae said.
The explosion caused minor damage to the school. Flying glass dented some of the walls, punched holes in two ceiling tiles and cracked two windows, McRae said.
'There wasn't any loud noise or fire or smoke,' he said. 'It was more of a dull thump.'
He said the school evacuated students and sent them home one hour after the explosion.
Classes will not be held tomorrow, but counseling will be available for students who were shaken by the experience.