Pupils, teacher injured in school explosion

Five pupils and a teacher were taken to Kaiataia Hospital today after an explosion in a Kaitaia College metalwork class shortly after 1pm.

The injuries of the five Year 11 boys and their teacher, a man in his early 40s, were not believed to be life threatening.

Senior Sergeant Gordon Gunn of Kaitaia police said there was a possibility some of the injured may be transferred to Whangarei Hospital for further observation and checks.

"They've been involved in a loud explosion," he said.

Mr Gunn said a fire safety officer was on the scene investigating the cause of the blast, but as far as he was aware it was just a routine engineering class.

There were 18 pupils, the teacher and a teacher aide present when the explosion happened.

"There are a lot of broken windows, probably 70 per cent of the windows in the room have been broken blown out by the blast," Mr Gunn said.

"There's been debris flung around the room and embedded in the walls."

He said the school had notified all the families of the children involved.

"We have also had victim support people go to the hospital and help people who are there, and we have also made contact with the Special Education Service and they're looking in conjunction with the school at a crisis intervention team for pupils that are affected or traumatised by this incident," Mr Gunn said.

- NZPA