NATION : Series of Explosions Rip Through Plastics Plant in Southern Texas
A series of explosions tore through a Phillips Petroleum Co. plastics plant today, showering debris for miles around and sending up a fireball visible 15 miles away.
An elementary school 1 1/2 miles from the plant evacuated 800 pupils, and the Houston Ship Channel was closed by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Houston police on the scene were reporting several people hurt. A spokeswoman for Pasadena police said air ambulances were summoned and firefighters were dispatched.
The explosion, which occurred about 1 p.m., was followed by at least two other blasts.
Thousands of people lined up on nearby roads to view the yellow and green flames shooting from the plant. Joe Baccus said he felt the explosion at his business at least 15 miles away and could see the flames and smoke from the plant.
Glen Dickey, who lives five miles from the plant, said he came home from lunch to find a six-foot piece of metal in a tree. “Pieces of stuff were falling out of the sky,” he said.
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