A Chinese teenager lost his arm and was nearly blinded in one eye after a science experiment at home resulted in a blast. The 15-year-old boy was staying with his family in a residential block in Guangzhou, located in southern Guangdong province, when the incident took place on April 6, as per a report in the South China Morning Post.
The teenager was promptly rushed to the hospital, with his father, identified by the surname Huang, revealing that both of his son's eyes sustained serious injuries, with the skin surrounding them "completely destroyed".
“My son's right eye can hardly see anything, while his left eye still has some functionality,” Mr Huang stated.
The teenager will have to undergo skin grafting and a cornea transplant surgery. Meanwhile, one of his arms was amputated, and he will require an artificial limb in the future.
The residents of the building informed local media that they felt the ground shake when the explosion occurred. The emergency management authority confirmed that the explosion was a result of a chemical experiment initiated by the boy.
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'Nature of experiment unclear'
The teenager is currently a second-year secondary school student and has not yet begun studying chemistry, as the Chinese curriculum introduces the subject in the third year.
As per Mr Huang, despite not knowing anything about chemistry, his son had a deep curiosity for the subject and often dabbled in such experiments.
“He had conducted experiments at home before. We never expected this would lead to an accident,” Mr Huang said.
It remains unclear what specific experiments he was performing that resulted in a blast of such intensity. The local residential committee said they had launched an investigation to ascertain if the explosion affected the building's structural integrity.
The committee has also launched a donation campaign within the community to support the boy's medical treatment.
