Ukrainian student dies from exploding chewing gum

[Roy Mustang]

Ukrainian student dies from exploding chewing gum

A Ukrainian chemistry student was killed when a stick of chewing gum apparently exploded in his mouth, Ukrainian media report.

RIA Novosoti, the Russian news agency, says the incident occurred while the unidentified 25-year-old student at Ukraine's Kiev Polytechnic Institute was working at a computer at his parents' house in the city of Konotop.

"A loud pop was heard from the student's room," ukranews.com reports, quoting an aide to the police chief . "When his relatives entered the room they saw that the lower part of the young man's face had been blown off."

The report says a forensic examination found that the gum was covered with an unidentified chemical substance, thought to be some type of explosive material.

Investigators found that the student often dipped his chewing gum into a packet of citric acid and had inadvertently dipped it instead into a similar-looking packet holding explosive material that was also on his desk.

Local police feared the substance might explode if they sent it to Kiev for analysis, so experts from the capital have been summoned to Konotop, RIA Novosti reports.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]
Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Oh GOOD LORD... that's just grotesque.

And a horrible way to go. =\

[Roy Mustang]

Oh GOOD LORD... that's just grotesque.

And a horrible way to go. =\

Tell me about it. When I first saw the headline, I was thinking, how can chewing gum explode.


Then I read why.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[Mithrandir]

... and I'm *still* wondering how...

[Mr. SmartyPants]

The guy dipped it in explosive material...

I am never dipping gum in anything (not that I ever did)... never know when what seems to be innocent-looking Citric Acid would turn out to be something far worse...

[Whitefang]

Wow. He didn't notice that he had not dipped his gum in citric acid, or is this material so unstable that just putting it in one's mouth caused a reaction?

Which begs the question, why does one leave such a material on one's desk?

[Htom Sirveaux]

It was a taste explosion!

[KhakiBlueSocks]

It was a taste explosion!

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]That is so wrong it's right and so right it's wrong!

What can combine with the ingredients in regular chewing gum to create an explosion that violent? I know that sodium bicarbonate and citric acid creates sodium citrate...which is what you find in Alka Seltzer and club soda...but that's hardly deadly...[/color][/SIZE][/font]

[Phantom_Sorano]

[color="DarkOrchid"]Wow......I really believe such a story was true until I read the report. Geez....I don't even know the words to say.....but.....wow.....what a way to go. o_O[/color]

[EricTheFred]

I sincerely wish this story didn't beg to lead to half a dozen different jokes. Any death is tragic, but when it starts my humor circuit running, it's tragic and makes me feel guilty at the same time, even if I keep them all to myself.

I do in all seriousness want to know what in the heck he had "a similar-looking packet holding explosive material" on his desk for.

[Htom Sirveaux]

There's a party in his mouth, and everyone's dead!

[Nate]

At least he went out with a bang!

[KhakiBlueSocks]

Dare I think what the news reporters were thinking of when they came up with that headline:

"Death by Doublemint?"
"Big Bang by Big Red"
"Blow Pop goes Boom"
"Blown into Orbit"

Yes, this is wha was going through my mind at work... I'm so bad...

[shade of dae]

Ethan Hunt strikes again! D:

But seriously, that must be really hard on his family. My prayers go out to them.

[Tsukuyomi]

I'm never chewing gum again >__<

I never dipped my gum in stuff anyway, but.. NEVER CHEWING GUM AGAIN ;scared:

[ChristianKitsune]

Dare I think what the news reporters were thinking of when they came up with that headline:

"Death by Doublemint?"
"Big Bang by Big Red"
"Blow Pop goes Boom"
"Blown into Orbit"

Yes, this is wha was going through my mind at work... I'm so bad...

O_O I hate to laugh, but that was hilarious...

but seriously, this kid did die... ._.` poor person and his explosive chewing gum.

[ashfire]

I seen this on a fire dept forum and most firefighters have morbid humor because we see death more offten so we say things that keep us sane about something we see amongst ourselfs.

[Nate]

I suppose there is a lesson here for us all about dipping gum in things. I guess we'll have to chew on that one for a while.

I do feel bad for his family though. Something like this really bites.

And even though this was in Ukraine, I feel that this has to be said...

In Soviet Russia, bubble gum pops YOU!

[Whitefang]

I was really hoping I wouldn't come up with one...but...

It's uranium in ukranium (this one has a double meaning)!

And yes, let's pray for his family. That would be simply terrifying.

[That Dude]

What an awesome way to go, unfortunate, but totally awesome.

Bazooka Joe finally gets his revenge.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

Bazooka Joe finally gets his revenge.

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]My Good Sir...
[/color][/SIZE][/font]
[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="SeaGreen"]EPIC WIN!!![/color][/SIZE][/font]

[ChristianKitsune]

Wow, I have come to this conclusion about our gum brands...

They are seriously morbid! XD

[PrincessZelda]

Why would you dip your gum in citric acid, anyways?!

[KhakiBlueSocks]

Why would you dip your gum in citric acid, anyways?!

Well, Citric Acid can be used to add bitterness or sourness to different foods. Maybe he liked the sour twang of the acid? Which would then beg the question: "Why the heck he didn't just buy sour gum in the first place?"

Or, maybe he liked pretending that he was chewing tobacco? If memory serves me right, didn't old school ball players used to dip their spitting tobacco into some sort of liquid.

[Tsukuyomi]

I suppose there is a lesson here for us all about dipping gum in things. I guess we'll have to chew on that one for a while.

I do feel bad for his family though. Something like this really bites.

And even though this was in Ukraine, I feel that this has to be said...

In Soviet Russia, bubble gum pops YOU!

*Hugs* I love you Nate <333

I chuckled the whole way through reading this post XD;;;

Still no chewing gum for me for a while.. thank you :scared:

[RidleyofZebes]

Dare I think what the news reporters were thinking of when they came up with that headline:

"Death by Doublemint?"
"Big Bang by Big Red"
"Blow Pop goes Boom"
"Blown into Orbit"

Yes, this is wha was going through my mind at work... I'm so bad...

Kakhi? You should quit your job and go to work for the New York Times. Now. XD

But seriously, yeah.... I saw this on Rick and Bubba afew nights ago. It's as amusing as it is shocking, really. O.o could the packet of stuff... Kinda sounds like someone was whippin' up a lil homemade C4. o_o

[Cloud500]

The things that happen...

It's still pretty odd that he would just have that stuff lying on his desk.

[Doubleshadow]

As I chemist, I have to a giggle in a very devious manner.

...heheheheheheh...

It's remarkably easy to blow oneself up in even an innocuous lab. I was going through our chemical stores looking for acetic acid (smelly part of vinegar) and found a situation that would have resulted in the formation of explosive crystals in the cabinet if I hadn't caught it. *sigh* People are so careless sometimes.

And Soviets are the poster boys for accidental detonation for a reason.

[Nikolai Melodie]

I... am so surprised I hadn't seen such an image in a horror flick or something until now. This is the first time a freaky, 'How do you manage to die that way!?,' accident in reality has made my jaw drop... unless, of course, the Trojan War was real. Then the Illiad wins. But until they dig up Troy and find out..... =awestruck=

[Silent Seraph]

Wow I'm still not sure i believe that this happened (or want to) but a secret part of me wonders why?,how?, and if my friends are stupid enough to do it.