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Cause of North Carolina Explosion Still Unclear
Aired January 30, 2003 - 13:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The search for the cause. Federal investigators are talking with plant workers and other witnesses today in Kinston, North Carolina. They're looking for clues to what might have caused the explosion and fire that killed three workers, injured 35 others, and destroyed a pharmaceutical supply factory.
CNN's Patty Davis is live now at the scene -- hi, Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. The death toll stands at three, but officials here say that that could climb. There is, as of now, one person they believe still unaccounted for, and they are trying to nail that down at this point. The latest numbers to come out here at the scene just a few minutes ago on injured stands at 34.
Now, you can see the effect of this explosion behind me. The fire took place in that four-story structure right there. You see where they were mixing chemicals, we're told, to make plastics. This company makes syringe plungers as well as I.V. medical equipment. You can see firefighters still at work there trying to put out pockets of Fire. They say there are eight to nine feet of debris that fire is trapped under. They plan to bring in equipment to lift that debris and get at those fires.
Now, the investigation is underway to figure out what caused this explosion yesterday. Investigators talking to workers today who were in the plant at the time, and North Carolina Governor Mike Easley calling those workers, to say the very least, shell shocked in great state of anxiety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE EASLEY, NORTH CAROLINA: Our total and complete focus at this point is on the health, safety and well-being of the workers, their families and this community, and we will worry about those violations later. We will worry about the cause of the explosion later. But right now, everyone is focused on how we solve the problem at hand, that is the emergency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: The violations the governor is referring to are 30 violations that this company was cited for safety violations last fall.
Now, the company paid a $9,000 fine for those violations. The state says it corrected it. This company now in good standing. The fire chief who is in charge here just spoke a few minutes ago, and said -- was asked whether or not he believes that this explosion perhaps was a deliberate act. And he said he does not believe it, he believes this was a chemical origin, or perhaps even a gas leak -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Patty, any idea those violations and the fine that was paid, any idea what West Pharmaceuticals had to do to correct the problem, and if there were follow-up checks after that?
DAVIS: Well, the state says that there were follow-up checks. They paid the fine; they did what they needed to do. There were things involved with having safety stations properly equipped, things like that. Volatile chemicals, things like that. But the state says that this company did fix the problems -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Patty Davis, thank you. Live from Kinston, North Carolina, today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 30, 2003 - 13:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The search for the cause. Federal investigators are talking with plant workers and other witnesses today in Kinston, North Carolina. They're looking for clues to what might have caused the explosion and fire that killed three workers, injured 35 others, and destroyed a pharmaceutical supply factory.
CNN's Patty Davis is live now at the scene -- hi, Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. The death toll stands at three, but officials here say that that could climb. There is, as of now, one person they believe still unaccounted for, and they are trying to nail that down at this point. The latest numbers to come out here at the scene just a few minutes ago on injured stands at 34.
Now, you can see the effect of this explosion behind me. The fire took place in that four-story structure right there. You see where they were mixing chemicals, we're told, to make plastics. This company makes syringe plungers as well as I.V. medical equipment. You can see firefighters still at work there trying to put out pockets of Fire. They say there are eight to nine feet of debris that fire is trapped under. They plan to bring in equipment to lift that debris and get at those fires.
Now, the investigation is underway to figure out what caused this explosion yesterday. Investigators talking to workers today who were in the plant at the time, and North Carolina Governor Mike Easley calling those workers, to say the very least, shell shocked in great state of anxiety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE EASLEY, NORTH CAROLINA: Our total and complete focus at this point is on the health, safety and well-being of the workers, their families and this community, and we will worry about those violations later. We will worry about the cause of the explosion later. But right now, everyone is focused on how we solve the problem at hand, that is the emergency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: The violations the governor is referring to are 30 violations that this company was cited for safety violations last fall.
Now, the company paid a $9,000 fine for those violations. The state says it corrected it. This company now in good standing. The fire chief who is in charge here just spoke a few minutes ago, and said -- was asked whether or not he believes that this explosion perhaps was a deliberate act. And he said he does not believe it, he believes this was a chemical origin, or perhaps even a gas leak -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Patty, any idea those violations and the fine that was paid, any idea what West Pharmaceuticals had to do to correct the problem, and if there were follow-up checks after that?
DAVIS: Well, the state says that there were follow-up checks. They paid the fine; they did what they needed to do. There were things involved with having safety stations properly equipped, things like that. Volatile chemicals, things like that. But the state says that this company did fix the problems -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Patty Davis, thank you. Live from Kinston, North Carolina, today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
