In the early morning of 24/3, the Ji family's kitchen was reduced to rubble following a large explosion. The scene was chaotic: refrigerator hinges were ripped off, the door flung far away, ceiling plaster peeled and fell to the floor, and food was scattered. The incident completely destroyed the refrigerator, valued at over 10,000 te (approximately 35 million dong). Fortunately, all family members escaped harm as they were sleeping in their separate rooms.
The culprit behind the explosion was a box of dry ice. Ms. Ji's son, an 8th-grade student who enjoys experiments, had purchased dry ice online. When he didn't use all of it, he placed it in the freezer, believing the low temperature would preserve it.
Scientifically, dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) has a temperature of -78,5 degrees Celsius, while a typical freezer only reaches -10 to -18 degrees Celsius. This temperature difference causes dry ice to rapidly sublimate, transitioning directly from solid to gas.
Officer Luu Chan Dong from the Wuxi Fire Rescue Team further explained that when dry ice sublimates, the volume of carbon dioxide gas produced expands 800 to 1,000 times its original size. If trapped in a sealed, narrow space like a glass bottle, plastic container, or refrigerator, the gas has no escape route. It continuously builds pressure, and when it exceeds the container's tolerance, the gas will rupture the enclosure, creating an extremely powerful physical explosion.
The incident at the Ji family's home is not isolated. In September 2023, an 8-year-old boy in Jinan sustained 30 injuries to his face and neck after placing dry ice in a sealed glass bottle. Previously, a woman in Beijing also damaged her refrigerator by putting a bag of dry ice, used to preserve a cake, into a plastic bottle and storing it in the freezer.
To prevent similar accidents, rescue forces recommend three principles for handling dry ice:
Do not seal: Store dry ice only in specialized containers or foam boxes with ventilation holes.
Isolate from heat sources: Place in a well-ventilated area, absolutely away from heaters and direct sunlight.
React quickly: Immediately move the container to an open space if continuous white fog is observed or if the container bulges or deforms.
Video of the refrigerator explosion caused by dry ice on 24/3 in Zhejiang, China. *Source: QQ*
Bao Nhien (via QQ)
