Photos: At Least 1 Killed And 77 Injured in La. Chemical Plant Explosion

GEISMAR, La. — A ground-rattling explosion Thursday at a chemical plant in Louisiana ignited a blaze that killed one person and injured dozens of others, authorities said. Witnesses described a chaotic scene of flames as high as 200 feet into the air and workers scrambling over gates to escape the plant.

A ground shaking explosion has occurred in Louisiana chemical plant at about 8:37 a.m. on Thursday morning.

The plant is in an industrial area of Geismar, a Mississippi River community about 20 miles south-east of Baton Rouge.

At least one died and seventy-seven others were injured in the explosion.

Police identified the man killed as  29-year-old Zachary C. Green, of Hammond.

The massive explosion started a fire shooting 100 to 200 feet in the air.

The plant which belongs to  Williams Companies Inc., makes ethylene and propylene.

Even after the fire was extinguished, the thick black smoke still rose in the air above the plant.

Here are some photos of the incident …

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Giant Telecommunications Antenna Crashed In Penang, 1 Killed, 5 Injured-Photos And Video

A 20-tonne concrete slab and a lightning arrester pole on top a 21-storey building collapsed and crashed on several vehicles along Jalan Macalister following a thunderstorm this evening. — Pix by Ramdzan Masiam/New Straits Times

A severe thunderstorm hit Penang yesterday evening, uprooting trees and causing damages to properties.

At about 6:45pm, an 80-foot telecommunications antenna crashed from the top of the 21-storey Menara UMNO in Jalan Macalister, Georgetown crushing vehicles travelling below.

Six cars and a lorry carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canisters were crushed by the giant white-coloured pole.

One man was killed while another five were injured, including two who were seriously injured.

Jahir Hussain Sulaiman, 46, the co-driver of the lorry was killed in the incident.

The injured are Norhalis Hayati Abd Latif, 30,  Abd Latif Ramli, 71, Mohamad Badrul, 32, Rudi Ahmad, 34, and Samsiah Salim, 49.

The LPG canisters were seen lying all over road, risking possible explosion.

Occupants of the tower were evacuated while hundreds other people ran away from nearby outlets after the incident. 

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