A potentially tragic incident was narrowly avoided at a school in Heraklion, Crete, after students built and detonated a homemade explosive device inside the school yard late Monday night, according to local reports.
The incident occurred after a group of middle school students allegedly climbed over the school’s fence and placed the improvised device in the yard, where they later activated it, the local news website patris.gr reported.
Greek police quickly launched an investigation and have already arrested one of the suspected minors. Authorities are currently searching for two additional students believed to have been involved in the incident.
Homemade explosive built after watching social media video
According to investigators, the minor who was arrested reportedly admitted that the group learned how to build the device from a video they watched on social media. When asked the minor allegedly told teachers: “We saw a video on an online platform and thought we’d do the same.”
Police say the improvised explosive was constructed using flammable materials, small liquefied gas canisters and a firecracker, a combination that could have caused serious injuries or even a fatal accident.
A staff member at the school described the device as extremely hazardous, emphasizing how close the incident came to becoming a tragedy.
“Police told us that the construction was very dangerous,” the employee said. “There were small gas canisters, alcohol and a flare. If something had gone wrong, we could have had a tragedy at our school.”
