A University of Iowa professor was hurt in an explosion of hydrogen gas outside the physics building this morning, which was evidently an accident involving a science experiment. U-of-I spokesman Tom Moore says the blast happened at 7:30 A.M. outside Van Allen Hall on the Iowa City campus.
“One of our professors was loading bags filled with hydrogen gas into a university vehicle,” Moore says. “Apparently the bags exploded, damaged the vehicle and injured the professor.” The person was taken to University Hospitals for treatment but no name was released and no condition report was available.
“This is part of an ongoing research project that’s been going on for many years,” Moore says. “Apparently, they fill the bags with hydrogen and then transport them to a safe area where they are detonated.” Moore says classes are not in session and no one else was reportedly hurt. The university-owned vehicle, a Ford Explorer, was “extensively” damaged, he says.