BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (AP) — Authorities say a man has died following a chemical tank explosion at a fertilizer plant in southwest Georgia.
Bainbridge Public Safety officer Jerry Carter says the explosion occurred around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Liquid Transfer Terminals in Bainbridge. Carter says the 1 million-gallon chemical tank contained sodium chlorite liquid solution.
Carter says emergency crews ordered about 50 to 100 people to evacuate from within a half-mile radius of the chemical explosion. He says no harmful gases were reported in the air, but a carbon layer was burning.
Bainbridge community affairs spokeswoman Julie Harris says all Decatur County elementary schools were placed on lockdown as a precaution.
No other injuries have been reported.