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American Morning
Devastating Blast in Kinston
Aired January 30, 2003 - 08:07 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We turn now to another story that is getting a lot of attention this morning. Authorities in North Carolina say three people were killed and more than 35 were injured in the explosion at a fire at a pharmaceutical supplies plant. The devastating blast struck at the heart of the tight knit community of Kinston.
Our Patty Davis is on the scene right now -- good morning, Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Terrifying moments for workers as they fled this explosion at the West Pharmaceutical Company here in Kinston, North Carolina yesterday afternoon. Fire, thick smoke, debris flying, terrifying moments, also, for residents, who were told to evacuate, they were, if they were within one mile because of the toxic smoke here.
Now, one nearby school had its windows blown out and here is how one witness described what he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY LAMBERT, WITNESS: Pure pandemonium. It was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of, you know, people were just unclear where they were. People, you know, just had no idea what was going on and what we tried to do was assist them in getting to, out of harm's way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: Three people confirmed dead, 35 to 37 people injured, some of those very badly burned and taken to a burn center. That information according to the emergency medical services just this morning.
Now, several officials say here that they do not expect terrorism here. But the ATF, the FBI is here, as well as the Chemical Safety Administration. Now, that is almost like the NTSB, which investigates plane crashes. That federal agency investigates chemical explosions.
The explosion happened in the back part of the plant, about 1:30 in the afternoon, and that is where they mix chemicals. They make plastics here for plungers for syringes, also I.V. medical equipment. Investigators looking to interview workers today. They're asking them to come to a nearby building here about 11:00, tell them what they know, what did they see, what were they doing back there that could possibly have caused this blast. The blast devastating to this building. The community, too, folks here gathered at the Emanuel Baptist Church about two miles from the blast last night to get food from the Red Cross, also to share stories and cheers going up when they heard that some of the workers had been found alive -- Paula.
ZAHN: Patty, as you know, this was pretty dramatic watching it on television yesterday when we knew the schools in the area were in lockdown and we didn't know how many of those students had parents that were working at this factory. Boy, I wish them luck with the investigation.
Thanks, Patty.
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 - 08:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We turn now to another story that is getting a lot of attention this morning. Authorities in North Carolina say three people were killed and more than 35 were injured in the explosion at a fire at a pharmaceutical supplies plant. The devastating blast struck at the heart of the tight knit community of Kinston.
Our Patty Davis is on the scene right now -- good morning, Patty.
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Terrifying moments for workers as they fled this explosion at the West Pharmaceutical Company here in Kinston, North Carolina yesterday afternoon. Fire, thick smoke, debris flying, terrifying moments, also, for residents, who were told to evacuate, they were, if they were within one mile because of the toxic smoke here.
Now, one nearby school had its windows blown out and here is how one witness described what he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY LAMBERT, WITNESS: Pure pandemonium. It was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of, you know, people were just unclear where they were. People, you know, just had no idea what was going on and what we tried to do was assist them in getting to, out of harm's way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: Three people confirmed dead, 35 to 37 people injured, some of those very badly burned and taken to a burn center. That information according to the emergency medical services just this morning.
Now, several officials say here that they do not expect terrorism here. But the ATF, the FBI is here, as well as the Chemical Safety Administration. Now, that is almost like the NTSB, which investigates plane crashes. That federal agency investigates chemical explosions.
The explosion happened in the back part of the plant, about 1:30 in the afternoon, and that is where they mix chemicals. They make plastics here for plungers for syringes, also I.V. medical equipment. Investigators looking to interview workers today. They're asking them to come to a nearby building here about 11:00, tell them what they know, what did they see, what were they doing back there that could possibly have caused this blast. The blast devastating to this building. The community, too, folks here gathered at the Emanuel Baptist Church about two miles from the blast last night to get food from the Red Cross, also to share stories and cheers going up when they heard that some of the workers had been found alive -- Paula.
ZAHN: Patty, as you know, this was pretty dramatic watching it on television yesterday when we knew the schools in the area were in lockdown and we didn't know how many of those students had parents that were working at this factory. Boy, I wish them luck with the investigation.
Thanks, Patty.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
