TUBA CITY, Ariz. - Two students were charged Friday with setting off two stink bombs whose fumes sent six people at a Navajo Reservation high school to the hospital.
An FBI spokesman described Thursday's explosions as a prank, though the school canceled classes Friday.
''I'm sure this is a serious matter to the school,'' said Ed Hall, an FBI spokesman in Phoenix. ''To me, it's more like a prankster trying to cause problems more than somebody trying to cause harm.''
The 18-year-old Tuba City High students, Rajer G. Hudson and Stewart R. Tracy Jr., were charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and a crime on an Indian reservation, Hall said.
If convicted on both federal charges, the Navajo students could face up to 15 years in prison, Hall said.
Hudson and Tracy made the stink bombs by putting cleaning chemicals and aluminum foil in a plastic bottle, Hall said. The combination creates a gas that expands to crack the bottle and causes a foul odor, he said.
Hudson and Tracy told investigators they wanted to create a few laughs and get out of school early but had no intention of harming anyone, Hall said.
Four students and two janitors were treated for minor eye and throat irritation from the fumes, said Carinda Little, spokeswoman for the Tuba City Medical Center. One boy was knocked unconscious by the fumes but was responsive shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Hudson suffered minor burns, Hall said, but neither he nor Little knew whether Hudson was considered one of the six injured.
Tuba City is in the northwest corner of the state, part of the 4.8-million acre Navajo Reservation that sprawls across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
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