US & Massachusetts - Hundreds escape unhurt from massive plant blast

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Hundreds

escape unhurt from massive plant blast

POSTED: 6:49 p.m. EST, November 22, 2006 Story Highlights

• Blast flattens chemical

plant outside Boston, knocks homes off foundations

• Almost 90 houses damaged -- 25 of them beyond repair

• Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney says it was a " miracle " no one badly

hurt

• Officials say it may take weeks to work out what caused the 3 a.m. blast

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DANVERS, Massachusetts

(AP) -- A chemical plant outside Boston blew up Wednesday with a roar so

thunderous, people thought it was an earthquake or a plane crash.

The explosion destroyed two dozen homes in the tightly packed

neighborhood but caused only minor injuries.

The fiery blast flattened CAI Inc., a manufacturer of solvents and inks,

around 3 a.m., knocking

buildings off their foundations, shredding roofs and shattering windows in

neighboring Salem. The explosion could be heard more than 20 miles away.

" I was in bed and then next thing I knew, I was on my feet. I saw

the flames and grabbed my clothes. My first thought was that an airplane

crashed, " said Paul O'Donnell, an aircraft mechanic,

" but then I thought it was too early for that. "

Nearly 90 homes were damaged, with roughly 25 wrecked beyond repair. But

only 10 of the more than 300 people believed to be in the neighborhood were

hurt, and their injuries were minor, authorities said.

The plant was empty at the time.

" The miracle is you have the equivalent of a 2,000-pound bomb going

off in a residential neighborhood at night when everybody is home, and no one's

dead and no one is seriously injured, " Gov. Mitt Romney said.

Officials said it could take weeks to determine the cause of the

explosion.

Most of the damaged homes were in view of the plant, and some stood

right across the street. The neighborhood is among the oldest in the city,

dating to the 1700s, with a mixture of business and homes because it was

settled before modern zoning rules.

Firefighters from 30 cities and towns battled the blaze in this

community about 20 miles northeast of Boston.

Bakery owner Luis Ferreira was working overnight making bread and pies

for Thanksgiving customers when " all of the sudden -- boom

-- and everything gets dark. "

Through the flour and dust, employees called out to each other.

" We had no idea what happened at the time. We just got out of

there, " said Ferreira, who suffered scrapes on his face and wore a bandage

on his temple.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/22/explosion.fire.ap/index.html

 

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