Posted on 01/28/2021 10:18:27 AM PST by Red Badger
Hall County officials said multiple people were taken to hospitals after a chemical explosion at Prime Pak Foods. (WSB-TV)
ATLANTA — Hall County officials said six people were killed and 10 people were taken to hospitals after a chemical leak at a Hall County food processing plant Thursday morning.
The incident, which officials initially called an “explosion” but now say was a liquid nitrogen leak, happened at Prime Pak Foods around 10 a.m.
At least 130 people were evaluated at the scene.
Content Continues Below Of the ten people taken to the hospital, three are in critical condition, health officials with the Northeast Georgia Health System said.
Three Gainesville firefighters and one firefighter from Hall County were also injured.
Gainesville police said Memorial Park Drive is shut down from Browns Bridge Road to Atlanta Highway. Police are asking the public to avoid the area.
Nearby Lyman Hall Elementary school is sheltering in place.
Lyman Hall Elem is sheltering n place due to nitrogen leak at nearby poultry plant. Students indoors/safe. Leak contained/not airborne. Memorial Park Highway closed temporarily as officials address the situation. We will notify parents once the shelter in place has been lifted.
— Hall County Schools (@Hall_Schools) January 28, 2021
Horrible..... just 20 miles from where I live.....
Prayers for all those injured and the families of those who perished....
Nitrogen leak = suffocation risk.
Must’ve been one whale of a leak
Reported an ‘explosion’.....................
Anoxia is so quick one can’t react fast enough to escape.
Yes. We had a huge tank of liquid Nitrogen where I used to work, and I stayed as far away from it as I could. Warning signs all around it...................
My Dad’s sister lived in Flowery Branch for all her years. Worked at that wood plant down in town.
Odorless and nearly instant suffocation risk.
I’ve known of people falling into nitrogen purged tanker trailers and dying quickly.
Dear God, that sounds terrible
Dear God, that sounds terrible
“LIQUID NITROGEN”, greater risk of being flash frozen, literally frozen solid!
Very sad.
Prayers for all the injured.
More prayers for those who have died, and their families.
Possibly in a confined space.
Remember that you are breathing 70% nitrogen right now.
The last I heard was that 6 are dead, 3 are in critical condition and nearly a dozen are being checked out.
May God rest their souls and give comfort to their families and those who knew and loved them.
Intense refrigeration hazard with liquid nitrogen. Violent reaction to sudden atmospheric pressure would create explosion like effects. Freeze burns.
That was the first report later retracted
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