Two young men were arrested by the police yesterday afternoon in connection with a firecracker explosion in the compound of the University of Guyana (UG) Turkeyen Campus.
In a statement, UG said two first year students from the Department of Geology, in the Faculty of Technology are assisting the police with investigations into a “loud explosion” which occurred around 1 pm on campus yesterday. According to the university, a senior police officer stated that the device used was a “3 shot firecracker.”
Registrar Vincent Alexander stated, “No injuries were reported, all employees are accounted for and no buildings have been damaged.”
The university stated that a firecracker was thrown from a moving car between the Faculty of Technology and the Administration buildings.
Persons at the scene reported that sometime after lunch time yesterday, the occupants of a car, which was parked near to the admissions division of UG, lobbed the explosive device out of the car window.
The device exploded on impact with the ground, causing persons in the vicinity to run for cover. Other reports suggest that the device exploded in the car but this could not be confirmed.
A student, who was passing near to the admissions building when the incident occurred, stated that persons in the area “began to panic, because of what happened in the city yesterday (Wednesday) morning.” Another student said that the occupants of the car were drinking and lobbed the device out of the car window. He noted that while there were not many persons on campus yesterday, the incident created “uneasiness among persons there.”
The police were notified of the incident and a team of officers, including bomb experts, responded to the scene. The car was searched in the presence of its occupants and they were later taken into police custody.
