Update: March 17—The Pacific Ocean Science and Technology building will be open on Friday, March 18, for students with classes and faculty and staff.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa held a news conference to discuss the explosion that occurred in a laboratory at the Pacific Ocean Science and Technology Building on March 16. Speaking at the March 17 news conference was UH Mānoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology Dean Brian Taylor and Environmental Health and Safety Director Roy Takekawa.
At the news conference Taylor announced that a structural engineer had confirmed that the building was sound and would be reopened.