Worker Unaccounted For Following Newburyport Industrial Explosion

Industrial vat ejected from the building during the blast. (Mike Jarvis photograph for WHAV News.)

A worker remains unaccounted for and four others were taken to the hospital following an early morning explosion at PCI Synthesis, a chemical manufacturer, in Newburyport.

Acting Chief Stephen Bradbury III said there is major structural damage to the building, preventing firefighters and technical rescue crews from entering the building to begin a search. He reports that at about 12:45 this morning, 911 operators received a report of an explosion at 9 Opportunity Way. Upon arrival, fire crews saw that an industrial-sized vat from inside the building had moved about 30 feet because of the explosion, and it was now sitting in an adjacent parking lot.

Newburyport firefighters and mutual aid partners remain at the scene.

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