ATLANTA, June 2 (UPI) -- Two Georgia Tech students were seriously burned Wednesday when they mixed aluminum and rust powders to produce a pyrotechnic effect, authorities said.
Tommy Keen, an engineering student from Peachtree City, and Paul Grzybowski, a science student from Appling, were burned in an explosion behind the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house.
Keen, 20, and Grzybowski, 21, were hospitalized in critical condition with first- and second-degree burns to their upper bodies, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Engineering student Michael Parker of Hiram was at an adjacent fraternity house when the explosion occurred.
Parker said Keen and Grzybowski had mixed aluminum and rust powders in a "basic chemistry" experiment that produces a reaction similar to a big sparkler.
"Once the reaction has actually started, it's literally just molten iron, but it can get out of control if you don't have it set up right," Parker said.
Police and school authorities were investigating how the explosion occurred, a Georgia Tech spokeswoman said.
