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.
In this Instagram photo provided by Andy Bartee, a plume of smoke rises from a fertilizer plant fire in West, Texas on Wednesday, April 17, 2013. An explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco Wednesday night injured dozens of people and sent flames shooting high into the night sky, leaving the factory a smoldering ruin and causing major damage to surrounding buildings. (AP Photo/Andy Bartee)
A massive explosion hit the West Fertilizer Co. plant some 18 miles north of Waco, Texas on Wednesday, April 17, 2013.
CNN reported that:
“The Wednesday night blast shook houses 50 miles away and measured as a 2.1-magnitude seismic event, according to the United States Geological Survey”.
At least 160 people were injured in this massive blast.
So far they are not sure how many people were killed but at least up to 15 people were reportedly killed including two emergency medical personnel.
West Mayor Tommy Muska forewarned on Wednesday night:
“There are a lot of people that got hurt. There are a lot of people that will not be here tomorrow.”
“It was like a nuclear bomb went off,” said West Mayor Tommy Muska.
It is said that 10 to 15 buildings have been totally demolished and probably 50 homes were heavily damaged.
People expect more to be found dead because this is a very big one and some people might still be trapped in collapsed buildings.
Yahoo News reported that, Texas Public Safety Department spokesman D.L. Wilson said about half the town, about eight to 10 blocks, had been evacuated and that “we might even have to evacuate on the other side of town” if winds shifted.
The cause of the explosion is not immediately known.
It is really sad and scary to see another huge explosion just two days after the ones in Boston.
A big explosion caused a huge fire in an Indianapolis neighbourhood in the Richmond Hill subdivision damaging 80 houses.
2 people were killed and at least 7 people were injured in the incident that happened at about 11 p.m. on Saturday.
2 houses were totally destroyed while another 31 other houses were so badly damaged that they may have to be demolished.
About 200 other people evacuated from the neighbourhood.
The explosion could be felt at least three miles away.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the explosion.
This is disaster and I am very sad and sorry for all the victims, their families and friends.
(Please click the photos for bigger images)
This aerial photo shows the two homes that were leveled and the numerous neighboring homes that were damaged from a massive explosion that sparked a huge fire and killed two people, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Indianapolis. Nearly three dozen homes were damaged or destroyed, and seven people were taken to a hospital with injuries, authorities said Sunday. The powerful nighttime blast shattered windows, crumpled walls and could be felt at least three miles away. (AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger)
This aerial photo shows the two homes that were leveled and the numerous neighboring homes that were damaged from a massive explosion that sparked a huge fire and killed two people, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Indianapolis. Nearly three dozen homes were damaged or destroyed, and seven people were taken to a hospital with injuries authorities said Sunday. The powerful nighttime blast shattered windows, crumpled walls and could be felt at least three miles away. (AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger)
This aerial photo shows the two homes that were leveled and the numerous neighboring homes that were damaged from a massive explosion that sparked a huge fire and killed two people, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Indianapolis. Nearly three dozen homes were damaged or destroyed, and seven people were taken to a hospital with injuries, authorities said Sunday. The powerful nighttime blast shattered windows, crumpled walls and could be felt at least three miles away. (AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger)
This aerial photo shows the two homes that were leveled and the numerous neighboring homes that were damaged from a massive explosion that sparked a huge fire and killed two people, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012, in Indianapolis. Nearly three dozen homes were damaged or destroyed, and seven people were taken to a hospital with injuries, authorities said Sunday. The powerful nighttime blast shattered windows, crumpled walls and could be felt at least three miles away. (AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger)
FILE-This Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, file photo, aerial photo shows burned-out homes in the Breezy Point section of the Queens borough New York after a fire. The total economic damage from Superstorm Sandy could run as high as $50 billion, according to new estimates from the forecasting firm Eqecat. That would make it the second-costliest storm in U.S. history after Hurricane Katrina. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
Firefighters work the scene where an explosion has killed two people and damaged more than a dozen homes in the Richmond Hill subdivision, late Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger)
In this video image taken from NTV Japan via APTN, smoke raises from Fukushima Daiichi power plant's Unit 1 in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, Saturday, March 12, 2011. The walls of a building at the nuclear power station crumbled Saturday as smoke poured out, and Japanese officials said they feared the reactor could melt down following the failure of its cooling system in a powerful earthquake and tsunami. (AP Photo/NTV Japan via APTN) JAPAN OUT, NO SALES, EDITORIAL USE ONLY
Explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant caused more serious disaster to Japan after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami.
At least 10,000 people were killed in the earthquake and tsunami disasters.
This is the world’s most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.
Nuclear power plant is a place where people produce electricity.
But nuclear radiation is very, very dangerous.
It can kill human, animals and plants and it can also caused cancer.
It could cause a big disaster and the effect will last for a long, long time.
This is the worst nuclear disaster in Japan after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in 1945.
In these combo images made from Japan's NHK television, the Fukushima Daiichi power plant's Unit 1 is seen before (top) and after (bottom) an explosion in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, Saturday, March 12, 2011. The walls of the building at the nuclear power station crumbled Saturday as smoke poured out and Japanese officials said they feared the reactor could melt down following the failure of its cooling system in a powerful earthquake and tsunami. The damaged structure of Unit 1 can be seen at left after the walls crumbled. Japanese characters read: "before 9 a.m., top," and "at around 4:30 p.m." (AP Photo/NHK TV) MANDATORY CREDIT, JAPAN OUT, NO SALES, TV OUT, EDITORIAL USE ONLYIn this video image taken from NTV Japan via APTN, smoke raises from Fukushima Daiichi power plant's Unit 1 in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, Saturday, March 12, 2011. (AP Photo/NTV Japan via APTN) JAPAN OUT, NO SALES, EDITORIAL USE ONLYIn this March 12, 2011 photo provided by GeoEye, Fukushima, Japan is shown. Japan's nuclear crisis intensified Sunday as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple reactor meltdowns and more than 180,000 people were evacuated. (AP Photo/GeoEye)
In this March 13, 2011 photo shhows the damaged No. 1 reactor of Tokyo Electric Power Co's Daiichi Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, left, and No.2 reactor are seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO SALES IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE
Oil spill caused serious water pollution and can pollute the lands around it.
It can kill animals such as fish, crab, clam and birds.
It can kill plants too.
Cleaning oil spill is hard and very expensive.
Below are photos of the oil spill in China from Yahoo News.
A view shows crude oil in the sea near Dalian, Liaoning province, July 18, 2010. REUTERS/China DailyCleaning up the oil spill in northeast China's Liaoning Province.(100718) -- DALIAN, July 18, 2010 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on July 17, 2010 shows an aerial view of leaked oil floating off the coast of Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province. A 0.9-meter-diameter oil pipeline exploded at 6 p.m. Friday near Dalian's Xingang Harbor, triggering an adjacent smaller pipeline to explode too. The oil leak seriously polluted 11 square kilometers of sea and slightly affected 50 square kilometers also, according to local environment protection bureau. (Xinhua/Tian Jingyue) (wqq)In this photo taken Sunday, July 18, 2010, a Chinese worker tries to soak up oil from a spill in the sea near Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province. Efforts were under way to contain and clean up a large oil slick after pipeline explosions at a northeastern Chinese port sent greasy black plumes into the ocean, state media reported Sunday. (AP Photo) ** CHINA OUT **Oil spill polluting the water.
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