Liquid nitrogen leak at Georgia poultry plant kills 6
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Six people have died after a liquid nitrogen leak at a northeast Georgia poultry plant Thursday, with multiple others taken to the hospital.
Beth Downs, a spokesperson for Northeast Georgia Health System, said five people died at the Gainesville plant before they could be taken to the hospital, while one person died in the emergency room.
The leak happened after 10 a.m. Thursday at Prime Pak Foods in Gainesville, said Hall County Fire Department Division Chief Zach Brackett. He said firefighters arrived to find workers milling around outside, some with injuries
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At least four firefighters were also injured and take to the Gainesville hospital with what Brackett described as respiratory complaints.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
A hazardous materials emergency at a northeast Georgia poultry processing plant sent multiple people to the hospital Thursday, officials said.
The Hall County Fire Department said it was responding to an incident that could have been caused by a nitrogen leak. Local news outlets reported Prime Pak Foods in Gainesville as the source.
Multiple patients were arriving at the emergency department at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, system spokesman Sean Couch said. The extent of their injuries was unclear.
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Hall County school officials said students were being kept safe inside a nearby elementary school and said the leak was contained and not airborne. About 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometres) of a road that runs in front of the plant and school was closed.
Prime Pak Foods merged into Foundation Food Group, a company that takes raw chicken and processes it into products like chicken fingers and individual chicken cuts for restaurants and food service operations. The company’s CEO did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Gainesville is the centre of Georgia’s poultry industry, which is the nation’s largest, with thousands of employees working for multiple processing plants.
The Associated Press
