Blast at US plant kills one, many injured

An explosion and fire killed at least one person and injured 33 at the Williams Olefins chemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, yesterday, leading authorities to order people within three kilometres to remain indoors. The blast created a huge fireball and column of smoke when it hit at 8.37am at the plant along the Mississippi River just south of Baton Rouge and about 100 kilometres up river from New Orleans.

About 600 people were working at the plant at the time, and the fire was still burning three hours later, state police said.

A body was recovered at the explosion scene and a search continued for more possible victims, Louisiana State Police Captain Doug Cain said.

The blast injured 33 people, said Jean Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. Thirty were taken from the plant by ambulance and three by helicopter, Kelly said.

“Emergency shut-down valves have been closed. The unit is isolated,” parent group Williams Cos. said in a statement. “We are in the process of accounting for all personnel.”

Authorities ordered people within a three kilometre radius to remain in their homes, in part because of the smoke, said Lester Kenyon, a spokesman for Ascension Parish. Roads leading to the plant were closed, the company said.

The US Coast Guard said that traffic on the Mississippi River remained unaffected.

“It’s an active scene. The fire department, the sheriff’s office and hazmat (hazardous materials) team are responding to the explosion at the Williams Olefins plant,” said Amy Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Ascension Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.The company’s own emergency response crews were assisting at the scene, Williams said.

The plant produces approximately 1.3 billion pounds of ethylene and 90 million pounds of polymer grade propylene, according to the Williams website.