Explosion at Kentucky business injures 11 workers, shatters windows in surrounding neighborhood

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — At least 11 employees were taken to hospitals after an explosion on Tuesday at a Louisville, Kentucky, business that produces natural color for foods and drinks.

The explosion, which happened at Givaudan Sense Colour, knocked out windows and blew in doors in nearby homes and businesses. News video footage showed an industrial building with the middle section burned and partially collapsed. The cause remained unknown.

No one answered the phone at the company’s Louisville office. A man who answered at the Port Washington, Wisconsin, office declined to comment.

The University of Louisville Hospital treated seven of the people injured and two of them are in critical condition, said Dr. Jason Smith, chief medical officer for University of Louisville Health.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said officials spoke to employees inside the plant. “They have initially conveyed that everything was normal activity when the explosion occurred,” he said.

Greenburg said officials have accounted for everyone who was working at the plant at the time of the explosion. Officials would not comment on the severity of the injuries received by the people who were taken to hospitals.

Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said air monitoring began immediately after the explosion and “nothing at this point has ever shown any type of chemical problems in the air in this entire region.” O’Neill also said that fire officials “don’t precisely know yet exactly what types of leaks may happen or may be ongoing,” but he urged residents to stay calm.

Louisville Metro Emergency Services had urged people within a mile of the business to shelter in place, but that order was lifted about two hours after the explosion.

The blast knocked out several windows in a nearby business district, and many were boarded up as night fell.

Steve Parobek was cleaning up glass around the fourplex apartment he lives in just a block away from the plant. His kitchen window blew out from the blast while he was at work. He said one of his neighbors called him and told him to hurry home.

“You never really expect this to happen in your neighborhood,” Parobek said outside his apartment.

He said he arrived home and found his cat safe and used two pizza boxes and some duct tape to cover his window as temperatures dropped steadily Tuesday night. The building had 10 windows blown out from the blast.

“I lucked out; I only had one," he said.

Patrick Livers, who lives in a neighborhood immediately across the railroad tracks from the plant, was at work and his mother had picked up his children from school and was bringing them home.

“She sent me a Facetime and said, ‘Oh, your house is demolished.’ And I was like, ‘what are you talking about?’ Then she showed me the video. I was like, ‘oh you’ve got to be kidding me," he said.

Livers said no one was home at the time of the explosion. He said the explosion blew out windows up and down his street.

“The house is still standing. It’s just structural damage. If it was on a wall, it’s on the floor,” he said. “All the neighbors’ windows busted out, doors blown in. It looked like a small tornado went off inside the house.”

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Associated Press journalist John Raby contributed to this report.