The Osun Police Command on Friday refuted media reports that an explosion occurred on Thursday at the Osogbo campus of Osun University.
Mr Fimihan Adeoye, the Commissioner of Police in the state, told newsmen in Osogbo that contrary to media reports, it was carbon dioxide in a fire extinguisher that was accidentally released.
“There was no explosion on Osun University campus yesterday.
“ What happened was that at about 1:30pm during a lecture, one of the students mistakenly and unknowingly removed the safety pin on a fire extinguisher and subsequently it was discharged.
“The students in the classroom inhaled the carbon dioxide and as a result of that, some of them became unconscious and were immediately rushed to the hospital by the school’s authorities, ” he said
Adeoye said he had visited the scene of the incident with officers of the anti-bomb unit, adding that an assessment of the area had been carried out.
He also said that the fire extinguisher which caused the pandemonium had been retrieved.
Corroborating this, the institution’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), Prof. Odunayo Adeboye, said students who inhaled the carbon dioxide suffered respiratory impairment and became unconscious.
Adeboye said 27 of the students became unconscious and were rushed to the school’s health centre before they were later moved to four different hospitals in Osogbo for proper treatment.
He said the 27 students had already recovered and had been discharged, assuring parents that there was no cause for alarm.
