Police Say Dozens Hurt in Ga. Refinery Blast

[FourScore]

Source: NYT

An explosion and fire at a sprawling sugar refinery rattled this Savannah suburb Thursday night, severely injuring dozens of people and sending authorities into a nearby river to search for possible victims, officials said.

No deaths were immediately reported and there was no word on what caused the blast at the Imperial Sugar factory, which occurred in an area known as the ''bagging plant,'' officials said. Authorities still searched for victims more than two hours later.

Sgt. Mike Wilson, spokesman for the Savannah-Chatham County police, reported an unconfirmed number of injuries, ''well over 50 to 100 at this point.''

Dr. Jay Goldstein of Memorial University Medical Center said 30 to 35 patients were being treated, all in critical condition. Candler Hospital reported three patients in serious condition.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Refinery-Blast.html?hp

[alittlelark]

1. Damn, that sounds really ugly.

:cry:

All we can do is wish them the best....

[TrogL]

2. Possibly a dust explosion

If it's in the bagging area, microscopic particles of sugar will be suspended in the air and a spark can set off an explosion.

The same thing happened at a flour plant near where I grew up and levelled the place killing several. The blast could be seen from miles away.

[RamboLiberal]

3. Looks like there is 6 dead

Say 6 missing and it's a recovery operation. What a shame for families of those dead and injured.

[Eugene]

4. Reuters: Six bodies found in Imperial Sugar refinery blast

Source: Reuters

Six bodies found in Imperial Sugar refinery blast
Fri Feb 8, 2008 1:37pm EST

By Matthew Bigg

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Six people died and more than three
dozen were injured, many critically burned, in an explosion
and fire at a sugar refinery in Georgia, authorities said
on Friday.

Portions of the plant collapsed in Thursday's blast, which
apparently happened in a bagging room at the Imperial
Sugar Co plant in Port Wentworth, a suburb of Savannah.

Georgia Fire Commissioner John Oxendine told CNN six
people died. He said earlier that others in the building
could have survived the blast by escaping to an old
ammunition bunker under the plant.

"We have confirmed six dead. We've got those bodies
found," he said. "We are still looking for other survivors
because there are other people unaccounted for that might
still be in that building."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN0743207120080208

[Binka]

5. These Horrible Accidents Are The Result Of Corpo DeReg & Greed

Although that is rather a redundancy when I think about it. Poor families. Damn. Bastard owners!