Controlled explosion at school’s science lab

AN army bomb disposal yesterday carried out a controlled explosion at a Co Limerick secondary school after a chemical stored in the science room was found to be in a dangerous condition.

Coláiste Iosaef, in Kilmallock, was evacuated and students were sent home.

The chemical, dinitrophenylhydrazine, is commonly used in laboratories at schools and universities. While normally safe when it crystallises and destabilises, it becomes sensitive to heat or friction.