Firefighters work at the scene to extinguish a fire on Wednesday. (Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters)
Firefighters work at the scene to extinguish a fire on Wednesday. (Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters)

A sulfuric acid-related explosion at a lab at Hanyang University left four of the school's students injured, Seoul police said Wednesday.

Officials of the Seoul Seongdong Police Station said the incident happened at 9:01 p.m. on Tuesday. The students were discarding sulfuric acid at a lab on the third floor of the university's Advanced Materials and Chemical Engineering Building when the explosion took place.

One of the students was seriously burned on the face, while three others sustained light injures. All four were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The accident forced the evacuation of some 50 people in the building at the time, as well as sparking a fire that burned some equipment in the building. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire completely at 9:54 p.m., and discarded all the sulfuric acid.

Officials are conducting an investigation to determine exactly how the accident occurred.


minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com