18 people have been injured, including ten children, in an explosion that occurred this Friday at 7:45 p.m. while the media physicist Dani Jiménez -known for disseminating science to the smallest in the Catalan public channel-performed, in front of 300 spectators, a chemical experiment in a cultural center in Girona.

The Mossos d’Esquadra, Firefighters of the Generalitat, the local police of Girona and several ambulances of the Medical Emergency System (SEM) have traveled this Friday afternoon to the House of Culture of the Diputación de Girona after in a workshop with children an explosion occurred while a chemical experiment was being carried out. The workshop was part of a conference baptized as the European Research Night that was held this Friday in all the Catalan capitals and that was organized by the University of Girona at the scene of the incident.

Jiménez energized the activity before hundreds of minors and adults. At one point during the performance, the physicist introduced hot water and liquid nitrogen into metal drums while his assistant, an adult, held the drums. It was then that the deflagration occurred. Jiménez’s assistant was seriously injured. Jiménez quickly caught on and soon asked the organization to call an ambulance.

The explosion has been heard throughout the building and those responsible activated the protocols to evacuate the building. The delegate of the territorial services of the Interior in Girona, Jordi Martinoy, has counted 18 people injured. Only Jiménez’s assistant has been serious. The most seriously injured have been transferred to the Trueta Hospital. Among them, three minors between 5 and 12 years old. Seven people have been referred to the Santa Caterina Hospital, including two girls aged 11 and 13 and an 11-year-old boy. Finally, six other people have been treated in an outpatient clinic, including girls between 10 and 12 years old and a child under three years old.

The mayor of Girona, Marta Madrenas, has approached the scene of the events and has clarified to the media that it was an activity of “magic and science” like those that are usually carried out in the place. “There were many people inside when the deflagration occurred,” she lamented. The mayor has ruled out that there is a chemical risk and has hoped for a quick recovery of the injured.