LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, D-Louisville, and representatives from multiple emergency response agencies updated the community about what they have learned about Tuesday’s explosion at the Givaudan Sense Colour plant.
Twelve people were taken to area hospitals. UofL Hospital, Louisville’s trauma center, reported one person died at the hospital, one is in stable condition and five were released.
Five others were taken to Baptist Health Louisville. Of those five, three were released. The other two remain at the hospital but are in "good condition," Baptist Health said.
Dr. Jason Smith with UofL Hospital said the injured suffered from blast and "thermal" injuries. At the time of the explosiion, it wasn't known if there were any sort of chemical release, so every patient underwent a decontamination process.
Louisville Fire Chief Bryan O’Neill announced the second person who died from the blast was found at midnight inside the remains of the plant. The person was found when LFD went back into the space to check the structure again.
O’Neill added they don’t know what caused the blast, but that it will all come out in the investigation. He said, LFD has worked with the company and has done several inspections there and had found no issues with the facility.
Chief O'Neill stressed the fire department and other agencies began monitoring air quality immediately after the blast. He said there has been no indication of any chemicals in the air.
Several homes near the plant were also damaged by the blast. Greenberg asked families to call Metro Safe to let them know about damage or debris. He also asked that families not remove any debris found in yards or in homes because it will be needed for the investigation. Metro Safe can be reached at 502-574-2117.
Spectrum News 1 spoke with a woman, Vivian—she didn’t want to give her last name, who lives next to the plant. When asked about the blast, Vivian said, “scary.”
While she was not home yesterday when the explosion happened, her family members were.
“My daughter-in-law, I think that really scared her because she was, she saw a white light prior to it going off,” Vivian described. “And then the boom, you know, she thought it was a bomb.”
She says her home has a few broken windows. Several nearby homes do as well. There are also several chunks of metal and debris that were thrown from the plant on Payne Street and on the north side of the plant.
The Louisville field office of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is helping Louisville’s other emergency agencies with the investigation. Louisville’s Special Agent in Charge, Shawn Morrow, said the ATF is playing a support role and is just helping the other agencies. He added the agency’s National Respons Team is arriving later Wednesday to assist. It is ATF’s job to enforce federal laws related to explosions or arson. Morrow added, there is no reason to believe there was anything “nefarious” about the blast.
There were no representatives from Givaudan Sense Color at the news conference. Mayor Greenberg said he was in contact with the company and they expressed their condolences to the families of those involved. Givaudan is based in Switzerland.