(CBC) - Students, teachers and parents are in mourning at an Ottawa high school after the death of an 18-year-old student in a shop class explosion on Thursday.
Eric Leighton died Thursday night in hospital, hours after the explosion in his shop class at Mother Teresa Catholic High School.
Four other students and a 33-year-old teacher were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Outside the school of close to 1,500 students, the mood was sombre Friday morning. Students walked arm in arm into the school, with many stopping at a memorial in front of the school where photos, flowers and cards had been left.
More than 11,000 people had also joined a Facebook memorial page to Leighton.
People who knew the Grade 12 student said Leighton was likeable and always quick to help out friends.
"There was not one person who Eric didn't affect, who he didn't talk to, and it just breaks my heart," Nick Romain, one of Leighton's classmates, at a Thursday night gathering of about 100 students and teachers. "He was a close friend and it sucks that this happened."
Leighton was an accomplished athlete and played on the Almonte Thunder, a Junior B hockey team.
"He fit right in with everybody, he had a lot of leadership skills," said his coach, Bill White. "There was nothing bad I could say about Eric as a person or a player.
"Eric was the type of kid you never had to motivate. Every time he came to the rink he was ready to play."
School board officials said a memorial may be planned for next week but would make no announcement until Leighton's family had been consulted.
Investigation continues
Emergency crews were called to the school at 10:40 a.m. Thursday after an empty drum containing oil residue exploded in the auto shop class, according to a joint statement from Ottawa police, fire services and paramedics.
Fire officials said they believed that the oil in the drum was peppermint oil, and that the vapours from the oil may have ignited. Police and fire officials said the students were using the drums to make barbeques.
Julian Hanlon, the director of education for the Ottawa Catholic School Board, said it is not clear what precautions were taken or where the drum came from.
"We're still not sure to be quite frank who brought it into the school and don't have details around, you know, how that was being handled within the shop. And that's obviously the cause for concern. And that's something that we intend to get to the bottom of."
Police said they won't be issuing a statement on a definitive cause of the explosion until an investigation is complete. The Ministry of Labour and the Fire Marshal's Office have taken the lead on the investigation.