An explosion at a chemical plant in Belle, West Virginia killed one person and injured three others on December 8. The blast happened at Optima Chemicals Company at around 22:00 local time and caused a shelter-in-place order to be issued by police which affected around 2,000 people.
The 2-mile (3.2km) radius cordon around the plant was lifted on December 9 after emergency responders gave the area an all clear and a fire was extinguished.
According to Optima Chemicals, a preliminary investigation indicated that a 1,200 gallon metal dryer became over pressurised during a chemical product drying operation. The material in the dryer was a chlorinated compound used for sanitisation.
The company said that a chemical operator at the plant, was killed by the blast. Two other chemical operators were also inside the building when the explosion happened. Those two workers were taken to hospital where they were evaluated and later released. Another plant worker was injured by flying debris.
Local news channel WSAZ reported on December 12 that the chemical involved in the incident, sodium dichloroisocyanurate dihydrate, had not been processed at the factory before. The chemical is used for chlorination disinfection purposes, such as in swimming pools.
A full investigation has been opened to find the exact cause of the blast.
