LEARNING THE HARD WAY: 21 STUDENTS HOSPITALIZED AFTER SCIENCE EXPERIMENT MISHAP AT QUEENS SCHOOL, NYC
February 5,
2015
Queens, NY
QUEENS —
Twenty-one students were taken to local hospitals after an incident during a
science experiment at a Richmond Hill Catholic school, officials said.
Children
were treated for eye irritation and inhalation after one of the students
accidentally mixed two substances that were not supposed to be combined inside
a classroom at Holy
Child Jesus Catholic Academy, at 111-02 86th Ave., near 111th Street, about
9:37 a.m., an FDNY spokesman said.
The sixth
grade students worked on a science project, when one of them
mixed hydrochloric acid and aluminum, which filled the classroom with
fumes, students and parents said.
The teacher
quickly took the children out of the classroom and called 911, said
Stefanie Gutierrez, press secretary for the Diocese of Brooklyn.
"All
of the kids [that were in the classroom] were taken to local hospitals and they
are OK," Gutierrez added. "They were taken as a precaution
and some of them have already been released."
Brianna
Grady, who was one of the students taken to the hospital, said that the experience
was "a little bit scary."
"Some
kids had difficulty breathing," she said.
Brianna's
father, Brian Grady, said he was upset because he found out about the incident
while watching the news.
Gutierrez
said that she had no details as to how the mishap happened.
The school
serves students from kindergarten to eighth grade, according to the school's
website.