(Reuters) -Multiple people were killed after an explosion on Friday at a military explosives plant in Tennessee, and 19 people were unaccounted for, officials said.
Here are some notable fatal industrial explosions in the United States this century:
BP TEXAS CITY REFINERY, 2005
Fifteen workers were killed and 180 injured in an explosion at a BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, on March 23, 2005. A series of explosions occurred during the restarting of a hydrocarbon isomerization unit, the U.S. Chemical
Safety Board said in a report. The explosions occurred when a distillation tower flooded with hydrocarbons and was overpressurized, causing a geyser-like release from the vent stack, the report said.
IMPERIAL SUGAR REFINERY, 2008
An explosion caused by combustible sugar dust killed 14 people and injured 36 at the Imperial Sugar manufacturing facility in Port Wentworth, Georgia, on February 7, 2008. Eight workers died at the scene and six others died in hospital, while 36 workers were treated for serious burns and injuries, according to a U.S. Chemical Safety Board report.
DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL, 2010
An explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig 49 miles (79 km) off the coast of Louisiana killed 11 workers and unleashed the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, dumping 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days. A national commission appointed by then-President Barack Obama traced complex causes of the Macondo well blowout to a series of mistakes by BP, Halliburton, and Transocean that revealed systematic failures in risk management.
WEST FERTILIZER COMPANY, 2013
A fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Company in West, Texas, killed 14 people and injured hundreds more on April 17, 2013. The explosion resulted from an intense fire in a wooden warehouse building that led to the detonation of approximately 30 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in wooden bins, according to a report by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.
DUPONT LA PORTE FACILITY, 2014
Four workers were killed and a fifth was injured in an accident at DuPont’s facility in La Porte, Texas, on November 15, 2014, when methyl mercaptan, a toxic chemical used in the company’s insecticide and fungicide manufacturing process, was released, according to a report by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.
DIDION MILLING PLANT, 2017
Five people were killed and 14 injured in an explosion at the Didion Milling dry corn milling plant in Cambria, Wisconsin, on May 31, 2017. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board determined the accident was caused by the ignition of combustible corn dust inside process equipment, which led to multiple explosions.
R.M. PALMER CHOCOLATE FACTORY, 2023
Seven people were killed and 10 injured in an explosion at the R.M. Palmer Company candy manufacturer on March 24, 2023, in West Reading, Pennsylvania. A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board report found that natural gas that was transported through a pipeline leaked into and accumulated in the basement of the building. The gas ignited, causing the explosion.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; editing by Donna Bryson and Rod Nickel)
