Molotov cocktail explodes in a Chilean high school, injuring at least 35 students

SANTIAGO, Chile — A homemade firebomb exploded inside a public high school in Chile on Wednesday, igniting a blaze that injured at least 35 students, several critically, firefighters said.

A group of students at the school in central Santiago, the capital, were making Molotov cocktails in the bathroom to be thrown at a protest later when one exploded, said police official Lt. Col. Fernando Albornoz. It was not clear what caused the blast.

Capt. José Manuel Estefane with the fire department said 11 students at the prestigious Barros Arana National Boarding School were hospitalized in serious condition, with burns affecting their respiratory systems.

The rest of the students had lighter burns, authorities added, while a teacher trying to help the students collapsed. Firefighters quickly contained the blaze and blocked roads around the scene.

Police said the students were planning a street demonstration later that day in Santiago, which has a history of student activism stretching back decades. During major social unrest in 2011 and 2019, students at high schools and universities took a confrontational stance against the government and business elite to demand political reforms.