4 Workers Injured, 1 Missing After Chemical Explosion at Mass. Plant

A chemical explosion at an industrial park in Newburyport, Massachusetts left four workers injured, according to the Newburyport Fire Department.

911 operators received a call about an explosion at around 12:45 a.m. on Thursday at 9 Opportunity Way, theNewburyport Fire Departmentsaid in a press release.

After fire crews arrived on the scene, they noticed that an “industrial-sized vat from inside the building” had moved 30 ft into an adjacent parking lot after the explosion. The fire department did not say what may have caused the explosion to occur.

Five workers had reportedly been working inside the building at the time. While four were found and taken to a local hospital, a fifth person remained unaccounted for in the morning.

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Fire crews and technical rescue crews were unable to enter the building to search for the fifth worker that had been missing at the time due major structural damage to the building, the release said.

Massachusetts Department of Fire Services/Twitter

The Newburyport Fire Department encouraged workers in the industrial park area to avoid the street while they continued operations.

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A company called Seqens, waslisted at the addresswhere the fire department said the explosion occurred, according toNBC News. Thecompany’s websitedescribes Seqens a “contract drug substance manufacturer” that offers “initial process research to commercial API manufacturing.”

source: people.com