Twenty students were harmed at a fire stunt performance during a pep rally at Atlantic Community High School in Delray Beach, Florida. A fire -breather performer suffered serious burns and had to transport to an area hospital.
According to Palm Beach Country School, they hired a blow fire performer at the pep rally to support the students' standards assessment exams. It is also said that the event is hiring "seasoned performer."
The school insisted that there is no explosion during the event contradicting the initial reports. According to the video posted by NBC News, the fire stunt performer was caught on fire during the performance in front of hundreds of students last Thursday.
The school administration informed the parents of students who were injured, and have classes resumed after the incident. School district police are having an investigation of the incident.
According to Sun Sentinel, school official said strong words about a "forbidden" pyrotechnic performance, but Delray Beach high school principal approved the performance that went terribly wrong.
The crowd are gasping and screaming when they saw the fire breather's face on fire that spreads to his body as he tries to put out the fire. As the fire breather panicked, he constantly ran onto gymnasium floor at Atlantic Community High.
According to Danny Lahav, a senior who witnessed the incident, "He panicked, he was swinging his arms, trying to hit it out." "It was getting serious. Everyone kind of started to panic," he added.
Eight students were suffering from smoke inhalation and respiratory issue due to inhaling fumes from a fire extinguisher. According to the officials dozens of people were treated at the incident.
Kathy Burstein, a spokesperson from Palm Beach Country school District said, "What happened today at Atlantic Community High School is inexcusable. It's a direct violation of district policy. The district's rules are clear that fire and pyrotechnics are forbidden inside our buildings," she added.
