At least 35 students were injured this Wednesday, five of them seriously, after a molotov cocktail they were manufacturing exploded at an institute in Santiago, Chile, before participating in a concentration that was to take place outside the school.
The accident occurred while the students, aged between 14 and 18, were preparing the device in one of the bathrooms of the Internado Nacional Barros Arana (INBA), located in downtown Santiago. According to Colonel of the Carabineros police force, Fernando Albornoz, four of the students remain in critical condition with burns between 20 and 30 percent in their airways. The Minister of Health, Ximena Aguilera, later updated this figure confirming that five students are in critical condition.
Additionally, there are 17 other students in serious condition hospitalized in various hospitals in the capital. Colonel Albornoz explained that the explosion caused "various burns in a large number of students who were inside the bathroom." The Minister of the Interior, Carolina Tohá, stated that molotov cocktails are extremely dangerous and destructive weapons.
The Chilean Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation to clarify what happened and determine if there was any involvement of people unrelated to the institute. According to preliminary investigations by the Prosecutor's Office, traces of accelerant liquid were found in the bathroom and other areas of the facility. Tohá added that she hopes this incident serves to discourage the use of molotov cocktails in any protest context.
In recent years, students from this school have been involved in protests and clashes with the police to demand more resources for public education. In this unfortunate incident, more than 30 young people were affected, 17 of them in serious condition.
