COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Two "college aged" female students were hurt in an explosion at the Chemistry Building at the University of Maryland, Prince George's County Firefighters Tweeted out Monday.
The University Campus Alert System sent out this message to students and faculty: "There has been a chemical incident in the Bio-Chemistry building. Fire and Police personnel are on scene. Stay away from the area."
The Chemistry Building was evacuated, according to Mark Brady, Prince George's County Fire Department Spokesperson.
"An experiment was underway in a first floor laboratory in Wing #3 of this sprawling 4-story building. The two known chemicals being used were nitrogen and sulphur acid. The combination of these 2 products do not normally cause such a violent reaction. It is unknown if additional chemicals may have been involved. A violent chemical reaction occurred causing an explosion with fire. Two female students in the immediate area of the explosion sustained injuries and were able to escape along with two other people in the lab," Brady said in a news release.
The report came out at around 12:49 p.m., when the report of a fire and explosion was Tweeted out by firefighters, claiming the woman were hurt and there was a fire in the building afterward.
A short time later, the Prince George's County Fire Department was reporting that the two college aged women suffered 1st degree burns and minor lacerations as a result of the explosion.
"Paramedics found two females suffering from first and second degree chemicals burns and multiple superficial lacerations about their body. The 2 students and the other 2 people in the lab were de-contaminated and treated by paramedics on the scene. The 2 female students were transported to an area Burn Unit for treatment. They were in good condition. The other 2 people did not require hospitalization," Brady said.
There is no fire in the building and there have been no major injuries reported after this incident, Brady said.
Fire investigators have taken a sample of the chemicals back to the lab for further analysis.
Republished with permission of WUSA-TV
