An explosion tore thorough GNS Metal Consultants, a factory in Manchester, about 60 miles south of Atlanta Thursday morning.
The explosion happened around 8:45 a.m. About 20 workers were inside at the time, Manchester Fire Chief Greg Lehtimaki said. At least seven employees were injured in the blast. The injured men were all plant employees, Lehtimaki said. Their names were not immediately released.
Nana Harris, 25, said she was sleeping in her house a few blocks from the plant when she was awakened by a loud boom. She initially thought her house was on fire.
"It shook my whole house,'' she said. "I thought if I opened my bedroom door then I6'm going to be seeing fire out front.''Three of the men were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where spokeswoman Denise Simpson said one patient was in critical condition and two were in serious condition.
Four with less serious injuries went to hospitals in Warm Springs and Columbus. Hospital officials at Georgia Baptist Meriwether Hospital in Warm Springs said they were treating four patients, including two victims suffering from possible back-related injuries.
The cause of the explosion was not yet known. The blast broke natural gas lines, causing a fire. The blaze was extinguished within 15 minutes, Lehtimaki said.
An area of about a mile radius around the facility had been evacuated earlier, but was reopened at about noon. The plant is located in an industrial park.
A team from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency was on the scene Thursday morning, surveying the damage.
The plant's parent company, G&S Metal Consultants is a privately held company with its only facilities in Wabash, Ind., and Manchester, Ga. Ken Rauch, human resources manager at the plant's parent company, said Thursday morning that he and other executives were about to get on a plane to get to the plant.
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(With The Associated Press)
