West Pharmaceuticals Explosion in North Carolina

Fox News | 01.29.03 | Me

[Howlin]

Yes, it is.

People have been found wandering through the woods.

Trading in West stock has been halted on the stock exchange.

[kcvl]

The guy on Fox News is saying that some of the news organizations are saying that it was "like a bomb went off". Hummm...

[Howlin]

MSNBC has NO pictures.

[Mo1]

They have mutiple choppers there to transport people to hospitals

What the heck is causing all the black smoke??

[Grampa Dave]

FYI

[Howlin]

My gosh......look at that picture from far away!

Where did you find that live stream?

[JennysCool]

WRAL link apparenly no longer works -- or overloaded, maybe?

[Howlin]

Huge burn unit in Chapel Hill at Carolina.

[concerned about politics]

What the heck is causing all the black smoke??

burning rubber.

[Carolina]

YIKES! I've got some friends who teach at that school close to the plant.

[Howlin]

Did you see #26!

[Mo1]

Fox is reporting that because of the shift workers they are not sure how many people were in the Building

[JustPiper]

U.S. National - AP

Explosion at N.C. Plant Injures Three

KINSTON, N.C. - An explosion and fire rocked a pharmaceutical company plant Wednesday afternoon. At least three people were critically injured and the city manager said some people could have been trapped in the wreckage.

A man who lives near the West Pharmaceutical plant said debris flew in the air and the woods behind the plant were also on fire.

Kinston City Manager Ralph Clark told CNN that it appeared "there are still a number of people trapped in the plant."

The explosion was reported at 1:27 p.m., said Lee Pearson of the Highway Patrol office in Williamston. The cause was not immediately known.

"We've got a lot of units out there," he said.

A spokeswoman at Lenoir Memorial Hospital said three people were at the hospital in critical condition with burns and more victims were expected. The University of North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center in Chapel Hill was also told to expect patients, but given no specifics.

Lee Edwards, who lives about a tenth of a mile from the plant, said debris from two 800-feet water towers flew in the air.

"All I can see I just the black smoke, just billowing up in the air. I mean, the whole sky is black," he said. "It exploded. It knocked me over."

"That whole building is gone. There's no saving any part of that building," he said.

Television aerial footage of showed flames and smoke still shooting up more than an hour after the fire broke out.

West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. is a manufacturer of pharmaceutical delivery and medical devices. The company's Web site said its Kinston plant employs about 225 people producing syringe plungers and IV supplies.

A spokeswoman at the company's headquarters in Lionville, Pa., had no immediate comment.

Kinston is a city of about 25,000 in east-central North Carolina.

[Mo1]

Fox News is saying the high school near by is in a lock down and that the kids have not been evacuated

[kcvl]

What are you hearing on local news?

[concerned about politics]

YIKES! I've got some friends who teach at that school close to the plant.

People at the school are OK. They went into lock down for now. Parents can come get their kids.

[bvw]

I gonna guess, wildly, an exterior mounted pressurized reaction tank at about a second or third floor level went kaboom. That would explain the shock wave that breaks nearby windows.

[r9etb]

The guy on Fox News is saying that some of the news organizations are saying that it was "like a bomb went off". Hummm...

I'm betting gas explosion.

[Howlin]

I swear I have seen that plant on the way to Morehead.

Parents unable to pick up children, all kids are moved to the high school.

It's NOT the high school that was closest....maybe your friend's school??

[wimpycat]

Yes, but the link doesn't work. Those poor people!