Children among 18 injured in explosion at Spanish science festival

An explosion at a science festival in north-eastern Spain has injured 18 people, some of them seriously, including 10 children aged between 3 and 13.

The accident occurred Friday evening during the demonstration of an experiment in the House of Culture in the Catalan city of Girona, about 100 kilometres north-east of Barcelona, media reported on Saturday, citing the authorities and hospital spokespersons.

During a demonstration at the festival organized by the University of Girona (UdG), a container of liquid nitrogen exploded in front of an audience of 200 to 300 people, mostly families, they said. Those affected did not suffer burns. However, most of them were injured by parts of the exploded metal canister.

Moment de l'explosió a la Casa de Cultura de Girona aquest vespre, en un experiment de Dani Jiménez durant la Nit Europea de Recerca. pic.twitter.com/1IoHpBgiFW

— SER CATALUNYA (@SERCatalunya) September 30, 2022

A 5-year-old girl suffered the worst injuries. She is now being treated in hospital in Girona, along with four other seriously injured people - two other children aged 10 and 12, a 47-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man.

The remaining 13 injured people were released from hospital between Friday evening and Saturday, the reports said.

UdG spokesperson Salvador Martí assured that the experiment with the liquid nitrogen had been carried out many times without any problems.

He said it was "incomprehensible" why the accident had happened this time. The Catalan police will start an investigation, Martí said.