Renowned research institute and one of the country’s premier research institute, Indian Institute of Science (IISC) witnessed an unfortunate incident. A blast took place inside IISC, Bengaluru on Wednesday (5th December, 2018) at around 2.15 PM that killed a researcher and injured three. 27-year-old Manoj Kumar was killed in this accident while Athulya Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Karthik Shenoy escaped with injuries.

According to reports, it was a cylinder explosion in hypersonic lab of Aerospace Engineering department that was reportedly took place during an experiment. According to the Head of Department Prof G Jagadeesh, cylinder had exploded when a shock wave was being created as part of a research project in the lab. It is suspected that the cylinder was Hydrogen cylinder and the intensity of the explosion was so high that four researchers were flung away. Of which, one researcher (Manoj Kumar) was thrown 20 feet away and he died on the spot.

The Forensic Science Laboratory is probing into the issue and what could led to the blast. “Forensic experts would determine the actual cause of the accident but it seems like a cylinder blast,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Niranjan Raj informed media. Meanwhile, the four researchers (including the dead) belonged to Super-wave Technology Private Limited, the company is IISC initiative, promoted and managed by its Directors Prof. KPJ Reddy and Prof. G Jagadeesh.