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5 Workers Hurt In Explosion At Georgia Aluminum Plant

An explosion at an aluminum plant injured five workers and rocked buildings up to a mile away in a city about 35 miles southwest of Atlanta on Wednesday, authorities said.

A Coweta County Fire and Rescue truck heads in to the Bonnell Aluminum plant Wednesday, June 29, 2016 in Newnan, Ga. An explosion at an aluminum plant injured five workers and rocked buildings up to a mile away in a city about 35 miles southwest of Atlanta on Wednesday, authorities said. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
A Coweta County Fire and Rescue truck heads in to the Bonnell Aluminum plant Wednesday, June 29, 2016 in Newnan, Ga. An explosion at an aluminum plant injured five workers and rocked buildings up to a mile away in a city about 35 miles southwest of Atlanta on Wednesday, authorities said. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

NEWNAN, GA. (AP) — An explosion at an aluminum plant injured five workers and rocked buildings up to a mile away in a city about 35 miles southwest of Atlanta on Wednesday, authorities said.

The blast at Bonnell Aluminum in Newnan, Georgia, shook buildings in the city's downtown area, The Newnan Times-Herald reported. Images from television helicopters showed a gaping hole in the plant's roof, surrounded by pieces of crumpled metal.

One of the injured employees was flown to Atlanta Medical Center, and two others were taken to a local hospital, Bonnell Aluminum officials said in a statement. The other two employees were treated at the scene, the statement said.

Their injuries ranged from "life-threatening to walking wounded," Coweta County Fire Marshal Craig Sherrer was quoted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as saying.

"At this time, it's too early to speculate on what caused the accident but we are working closely with local fire officials and others to conduct a thorough investigation," the company said in the statement. The company said it has temporarily shut down operations until it can assess the situation.

"I just heard a big old blast," witness Erica Moss told WSB-TV. "It sounded like something was shooting. That's what it sounded like, like someone was shooting like 50,000 times."

Bonnell has been a leading manufacturer of custom aluminum products since 1955, according to its website. Headquartered in Newnan, the company also has manufacturing operations in Carthage, Tennessee; Niles, Michigan; and in Elkhart, Indiana.

Company officials said they hoped to have an update on the situation later Wednesday.

The explosion also damaged a building at another business, Sewell Marine, and caused a small fire in a boat on the lot, which was quickly extinguished, the Newnan newspaper reported.

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