operation to remove glass from his stomach.

The young man was in the intensive care unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital over night, but is now thought to be in a general ward.

The incident occurred at about 4 p.m. on Monday, and was initially downplayed by staff.

The student was working alone in a laboratory carrying out an experiment, which involved heating oil and water in a beaker.

It is believed he had overheated the vessel, causing it to explode. Glass fragments went into his stomach.

"They even went through the muscles of his belly,'' last night said Mr. Harry Barnes, assistant director at the station.