EXPERIMENT EXPLODES IN SCIENCE TEACHER’S FACE

Zanele Dlamini with her right eye covered before being discharged from the hospital.

ZANDONDO – A teacher at Zandondo High School has sustained serious facial injuries after a science experiment went wrong last Wednesday.

Zanele Dlamini, who is the Science Head of Department at the school, was injured during a class experiment. She was conducting a reactivity experiment with her Form II class.

 In her experiment, she combined sodium and water, which then resulted in an explosion that set her face alight.
It is said that pupils began to scream and some ran helter-skelter because they were frightened. Another science teacher only identified as Mr Dlamini is said to have run into the Science Lab and put out the flames using water. Zanele was then rushed to Dvokolwako Health Centre for medical attention.

She was then transferred to Mbabane Government Hospital to see an optometrist where it was confirmed that she sustained serious injuries to her right eye. She also sustained injuries to most parts of her head. The white lab coat she was wearing on the unfortunate day had visible burn marks on the right side of the collar.

In a telephone interview with this publication, the injured science teacher confirmed that she sustained injuries to her head during a class experiment. She said she was demonstrating to her class how sodium reacted when mixed with water.

 “I have been doing this experiment for years but I did not anticipate that the explosion would be this big,” said Zanele. She said as procedure dictated, she first cautioned her pupils about what would happen after combining the sodium with water and then warned them to move away as a safety precaution.

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