News

Drano Bomb Goes Off In Detroit School

POSTED: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
UPDATED: 12:06 pm EST March 3, 2010

DETROIT -- Students at Phoenix Multicultural School on Detroit's southwest side were evacuated Wednesday morning after a "Drano bomb" detonated inside the building, said authorities.

The explosive device, made of household cleaning chemicals, went off in the hallway of the building at about 8:30 a.m., sending fumes into the air, said a school official.

School officials said no students were injured because they were all inside classrooms.

However, a 7th grader, who did not want to be identified, said the explosion knocked her down and injured her.

"I tried to block my face and it hit my arm," she said.

"The device itself could have caused a lot of damage if there were a lot of children around when the device actually went off. Those types of bombs are very, very unstable", said Insp. Don Johnson with the DPD Bomb squad.

Police said the 540 students at the K-8 school were immediately evacuated, and many were forced out into the cold without their coats.

The students were bused to Roberto Clemente School in Detroit, which is located at 1551 Beard Street. Parents are asked to pick them up there at the end of the day. School is expected to resume at Phoenix Multicultural Thursday.

A 14-year-old student is in police custody.

Homeland security agents and Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents were at the scene with bomb-sniffing dogs, and have given the all clear.

An investigation into how the student brought the device into the building is under way.

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