Bengaluru: Researcher Killed, Three Injured In Indian Institute Of Science Laboratory Explosion

An explosion which occurred at 2:30 pm at a laboratory at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Wednesday (5 December) killed a researcher while injuring three others.

The 32-year-old researcher Manoj Kumar and his colleagues were working on an experiment at the Laboratory for Hypersonic and Shock Wave Research when the blast occurred, Times Of India has reported.

The injured researchers, Atulya Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Karthik, who were employees of Super-Wave Technology, an IISc-incubated startup , have been hospitalised and their condition is said to be critical, said a police officer. Preliminary investigations conducted by the police and forensic experts have ruled out sabotage.

MR Chandrashekar, IISc Chief Security Officer, on Wednesday (December 5) said that the explosion was unprecedented.“This is the first time in the history of IISc that an explosion of such magnitude has taken place during experimentation,” he said.

“There are several important experiments being carried out in the institute, but we have not had any human casualty till now. This is shocking. In fact, this is a world-class laboratory,” he added. The investigators suspect a leak in a hydrogen cylinder as a cause for the explosion along with describing the impact as “strong”.