Bristol University students were escorted out of their chemistry lab after they successfully created an explosive substance. This was similar to the one used in terror attacks. Bristol Post reported that the explosive substance was created by accident in one of the university's chemistry laboratories. It was the same as the one used in the 7/7 2005 London, Paris and Brussels terror attacks.
One of Bristol University's staff at the School of Chemistry named the substance as acetone peroxide. It is better known as TATP.
Police in Avon and Somerset have confirmed that the incident was not considered suspicious. Emergency services were called to the campus on Friday, Feb. 3, after the chemical incident was reported at around 2:30 p.m.
Students and staff were escorted from the lab as five fire engines as well as a chemical unit investigated the scene. The road was closed for about five hours as bomb disposal crews moved the explosive substance.
It was carried off to the Royal Fort Gardens. A loud bang was heard as the explosion went off. A staff member clarified that the TATP was a by-product of an experiment. It was noted the 90g of the explosive substance was created.
According to The Sun, the substance is a homemade explosive chemical that is often used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Bristol University has announced that investigation would begin next week. A spokesperson for the university noted that the substance was disposed safely. No one was injured during the incident.
Meanwhile, last month, a student from Bournemouth University died after a "chemical incident" occurred in the school's residence halls. Dorset Police responded to a report of the death of a woman who looked to be in her 30s.
Officials went to an address in the Bournemouth University Student Village in Poole. Residents were evacuated from the area after it was said that the home contained "unknown chemical substances." Police were said to have issued a warning about the potential for an explosion.
