Chemical Blast Kills One, Releases Deadly Cyanide

An Explosion at a chemical plant today killed one person, seriously injured another and released deadly cyanide gas that forced the evacuation of about 100 nearby residents, authorities said.

The explosion at the Savage Industries Inc. plant in eastern Pennsylvania occurred just before 1 a.m. when five or six employees were inside, authorities said. The explosions ignited a fire that was controlled within an hour.

A 27-year-old man was killed and another man was in intensive care at St. Luke’s Hospital in Fountain Hill with burns on his face and hands.

At least 20 other people, most of them firefighters, were treated at hospitals for minor injuries and smoke inhalation.

Paul Ciotta, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Resources said Savage had been operating in East Allen Township for about a year and had been cited numerous times for violations.

“No permit had been issued for the process being done this morning,” he said.

The explosion in a chemical reactor vessel in the one-story, aluminum-framed building blew a hole in the roof and caused the building to “belly-out,” Ciotta said. A mixture of chemicals escaped in a cloud through the roof, prompting the evacuation of about 100 residents of a nearby trailer park.

Winds blew the gas away from the area, and the evacuees were allowed to return by noon, officials said.