City manager Ralph Clark said some workers were believed to still be inside the West Pharmaceutical plant hours after the blast.
"We're trying to get them out," he said.
He had few details, but police said at least 100 workers has failed to contact their families by 3.30pm local time - two hours after the explosion
'Several dead' in US factory blast
BBC ^ | Jan. 29 2003 | unknown
Posted on 01/29/2003 2:43 PM PST by Spangler
At least eight people are reported to have died in an explosion at a chemical plant in Kinston, North Carolina.
The blast at West Pharmaceuticals, which makes syringes and other plastic medical supplies, occurred shortly before 1900 GMT on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman at Pitt County Hospital, where five patients have been admitted with burn injuries, told BBC News Online she had been informed that eight people had died in the blast.
Eleven patients have been taken to the Lenoir Memorial Hospital, five of whom are in a critical condition, according to the TV network, Fox News.
At least 200 workers are thought to have turned up for work on Wednesday.
More than 10 people are trapped and 20 people unaccounted for, says the local newspaper The Free Press.
'Building destroyed'
Emergency workers are still struggling to put out the blaze.
"That whole building is gone. There's no saving any part of that building," a neighbour told Fox News.
There are reports of people fleeing with burns to their hands and backs.
Firefighters have still not been able to reach the worst hit area of the plant where many of company's employees were located at the time of the explosion.
Dozens of emergency crews are on the scene, including about seven emergency helicopters to airlift people out.
Smoke from the factory can be seen from up to 30 miles away.
Schools and businesses nearby have been evacuated.
Families of West Pharmaceutical workers have been told to wait for information in a nearby church.
The cause of the blast is being investigated.
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