2nd Louisiana Plant Blast Occurs, Miles From First

One person was killed and several others injured today in an explosion at a south Louisiana chemical plant, only miles from where another blast killed two plant workers the previous day, authorities said. Louisiana State Police Trooper Jared Sandifer said five people were injured, three of them critically, and were taken to area hospitals following the evening explosion at a CF Industries facility in Donaldsonville. The identity of the person killed in the blast wasn't immediately released.

Sandifer said the explosion didn't pose a threat to the area surrounding the plant; workers were pressurizing an unspecified "vessel" with nitrogen when the pressure built and caused the explosion. CF Industries' website says the plant can produce roughly 5 million tons of nitrogen for agricultural and industrial uses annually. This isn't the first deadly blast at CF Industries' Donaldsonville plant. Three workers were killed and nine others were injured by an explosion and fire at the facility in May 2000. (More Louisiana stories.)