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SANTAQUIN — Some of the four college students most seriously injured while throwing Molotov cocktails down an abandoned mine shaft reportedly suffered second- and third-degree burns on their legs, arms and faces.

As of Monday, the four remained hospitalized, some at the Intermountain Burn Center at the University of Utah. The Utah County Sheriff's Office did not have an update on the victims' conditions as of Tuesday.

But a person with knowledge of the weekend incident, who asked to remain anonymous, said some of the burns were very serious. The victims were both male and female, according to the source.

The group brought out a five-gallon water cooler filled with three to four gallons of gasoline, according to the source.

A total of 12 people were injured in the incident that happened about 11 p.m. July 16. The practice of "mine bombing" has been occurring for years, according to those familiar with it. College students, many from Brigham Young University, go to abandoned mine shafts and drop Molotov cocktails, or gasoline filled bottles, through the openings of the rebar grates blocking the entrances.

Videos of mine bombings, many from Utah, have been posted on You Tube for several years. In some videos, a large crowd can be seen gathered along the perimeter of the mine entrance while others pour gasoline over the entrance and ignite with either a flare, fireworks or matches, creating a fireball.

In Saturday night's incident, the source told the Deseret News there were initially two groups of students at the mine dropping pop bottles filled with about an inch of gasoline into the mine.

"They were taking turns and each of the cocktails had a fuse on them. … They would light the fuse and drop the bomb … then by the time the explosion happened, the bomb was 100 or 200 feet (at least some 'safe' distance) below them," according to the source who talked to a person involved in the event.

While the source admitted what was happening was potentially dangerous and not a wise thing to do, he said the first groups were making efforts to minimize the danger. A third group later showed up, and that's when things started to get out of hand, the source said.

"They soaked a pillow in gas and had some sort of fuse attached … then lit and dropped it. It also fell to a safe distance before it burned up in a big fireball. … Then another person from that third group had a gallon milk jug with a fuse and they lit it and dropped it without any problem."

But after that, the group brought out a five-gallon water cooler filled with three to four gallons of gasoline, according to the source.

One person from the group lit a newspaper on fire and dropped it in the hole. He then opened the water cooler and started pouring gasoline into the hole. At that point, the person pouring the gasoline reportedly saw the fireball coming back up the hole.

It is impossible for officials to monitor all of the approximately 17,000 abandoned mine shafts in Utah, and there really isn't much authorities can do to prevent mine bombing except to make people aware of the potential dangers.

"He saw it coming so he dropped what was left of the five-gallon container which caused the gas to splash all over and so there was a ball of fire that reached out and burned the other kids," the source said.

A Bureau of Land Management spokesman said he was not aware of the practice of mine bombing until he heard about the weekend incident. A spokesman for the State Division of Oil, Gas and Mines said he had seen some of the YouTube videos.

State officials noted there are approximately 17,000 abandoned mines throughout Utah. It is impossible for officials to monitor all of them and there really isn't much authorities can do to prevent mine bombing except to make people aware of the potential dangers, they said.

Email:preavy@ksl.com

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