3 hurt after NY university chemistry lab explosion

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Police in upstate New York say three students were rushed to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after a chemical explosion at the University of Rochester.

Officials tell WHEC-TV the explosion occurred Saturday afternoon in the basement of a building on campus as the graduate students worked in a chemistry lab.

The station says a mixture of chemicals and acidic waste may have caused the blast.

A university spokeswoman says they may have suffered acidic burns. Fire officials say all three students were immediately decontaminated. They were rushed to a hospital.

Officials say emergency crews recovered pieces of a container that contained a mixture of hydrochloric, nitric and sulfuric acids.

Officials say a small fire was extinguished and the building was eventually reopened.