KINSTON, N.C., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- At least three people were seriously injured in an explosion and fire at a North Carolina pharmaceutical plant on Wednesday afternoon.
The fire at West Pharmaceutical Services was still sending thick black smoke into the air several hours after the explosion occurred at 1:27 p.m. (EST) at an industrial park in Kinston, about 60 miles southeast of Raleigh.
"The noise that I heard was quick," Kinston Deputy City Manager Phil Robey said. "It was obvious there was an explosion somewhere."
He said rumors that there had been a plane crash were false. "It was an internal explosion at the facility," Robey said.
Victoria Wood, a spokeswoman for Lenoir Memorial Hospital in Kinston, said three people were in critical condition suffering from chemical burns.
"We do have more victims incoming," Wood said. "We do not know how many."
Helicopters were used to transport other injured people to several hospitals for observation. The University of North Carolina burn center said it was told to prepare for four patients.
About 600 students were evacuated from the Arendell Parrott Academy near the plant as a precaution.
A man who lives near the plant said he saw debris fly into the air from two 800-foot-tall water towers before the area was covered in thick black smoke.
"It exploded. It knocked me over," Lee Edwards told WRAL-TV.
Mike Brown, a former worker at the plant who lives about 10 miles away, said he felt the explosion and could see the smoke from the fire.
West Pharmaceutical Services, based in Lionville, Penn., is a pharmaceutical technology company that provides drug-delivery products.
It employs 255 people at the Kingston plant, which produces syringe plungers and intravenous equipment.
