Tennessee High School Science Experiment Gone Wrong Injures 18

Authorities say a science experiment gone awry injured 17 students and a teacher, prompting the evacuation of a Tennessee school.

Hendersonville Fire Department Chief Scotty Bush tells news outlets that emergency crews responded to a chemical explosion inside a high school lab at Merrol Hyde Magnet School on Wednesday morning. Bush says the unintentional chemical reaction caused a flash fire that lasted three to five seconds.

Eight students and a teacher were hospitalized with what Bush said were second-degree burns. The other injured students were treated at the scene.

Bush says the teacher and school staff acted appropriately by swiftly extinguishing the fire and evacuating the school.

All three schools on campus were dismissed early.