SOUTHFIELD, Mich. --
Southfield Lathrup High School was evacuated Tuesday morning because of an explosion in a chemistry classroom.
Southfield Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Ken Siver said 11 students and the school's assistant principal were being checked by health professionals after an experiment went awry and produced noxious fumes. Three were taken to the hospital for complaints of breathing problems and minor burns.
Siver said the 11th-grade students were working with a potassium nitrate and sugar mixture, used to make a smoke bomb, when it exploded and scorched a hole in a ceiling tile.
The school was evacuated and was let out for the day because Siver said the building needed to be aired out.
Southfield Fire Department Battalion Chief Keith Rowley said the explosion could have had a much more serious outcome.
"Looking at the blast and the area that was involved, we are very fortunate nobody got seriously hurt on this," he said.
The school has about 1,300 students.
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