Explosion from rocket test gone awry injures 4 at University of Idaho

Incident occurred in a parking lot next to a steam plant.

ByABC News
April 14, 2017, 5:36 AM

— -- Four people were injured at the University of Idaho campus on Thursday night after an explosion stemming from an experimental rocket test gone awry, school officials and local authorities said.

The incident at the college campus in Moscow, Idaho, occurred as individuals were gathered to test the device in an unoccupied parking lot next to a steam plant.

Daniel Ewart, vice president of infrastructure at the school, said during a press conference that as a result of the explosion, one individual was put in critical condition while the other three were in stable condition after being taken to Gritman Medical Center.

He could not confirm whether those injured were students.

Ewart said the campus was considered safe otherwise, but that they were still gathering information and an investigation into the causes of exactly what happened with the initial explosion was ongoing.

Capt. Tyson Berrett of the Moscow Police Department said there was no known damage to any buildings. He added that the FBI had come in to join the investigation because of their technical expertise regarding explosions.

The explosion occurred at approximately 9:52 p.m. local time.

ABC News' Rachel Katz contributed to this report.