(Xinhua / Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-20 08:15

Three people were killed and 14 more were injured in a chemical plant explosion in Jacksonville, Florida, on Wednesday, local television reported.

Dozens of fire crews battled the blaze caused by the explosion, while hazardous materials teams were deployed to the scene, Jacksonville's WJXT-TV reported.

It cited fire rescue officials as saying three people died and 14 were taken to hospital.

Police have cordoned off the entire factory area, closed off highway exits to the site and set about evacuating office workers from the industrial section of the city where the explosion occurred, according to TV and wire reports.

At least 15 fire trucks were at the scene.

A spokesman for JEA, a Jacksonville power company, said it has a power generating plant across the street and was evacuating all nonessential employees from the building.

Carlton Higginbotham, 63, was at home when the blast took place.

"It was a gunshot-type explosion. It wasn't a rumble," he said.

The insurance salesman and his neighbor ran outside and noticed a thick plume of smoke billowing up from site of the blast.

"The cloud that came out of it was white, some would say mushroom-shaped," Higginbotham said. "It was followed by dark, dark smoke."

The TV station said the explosion occurred in Jacksonville's industrial area, at a chemical company that makes solvents and gasoline additives. The cause of the blast was not immediately known.

 

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