5-year-old Michigan boy killed in hyperbaric chamber explosion

(CBS DETROIT) — A 5-year-old Royal Oak boy was killed Friday morning when a hyperbaric chamber he was inside of exploded, officials said. 

Troy police and firefighters responded to a medical facility at 165 Kirts Boulevard in Troy around 7:54 a.m. Friday for a report of a hyperbaric chamber explosion. 

When emergency responders arrived at the facility, they found the boy inside the chamber, deceased. 

The boy’s mother, who was near the chamber when it exploded, suffered injuries to her arms. No one else was injured in the explosion. 

Police and fire officials have not determined the cause of the explosion. Crews were able to contain the fire in the room.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a hyperbaric chamber is an enclosed space that delivers pure oxygen to the body with higher than normal air pressure. During the oxygen therapy in the chamber, air pressure is increased 2 to 3 times higher than normal air pressure.

Hyperbaric chambers can be used for life-saving, limb-saving, and tissue-saving treatments, as well as for other treatments, such as low red blood cell counts caused by blood loss and sudden hearing loss from an unknown cause. 

Because a hyperbaric chamber contains such a high amount of oxygen in a pressurized space, it can be extremely combustible. 

Police did not say what the child was being treated for. 

Social workers with the Oakland Community Health Network are working with first responders and medical staff who responded to the scene. 

An investigation is ongoing. The medical facility is closed until further notice.