The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

On Tuesday, June 9, a plant in Garner, North Carolina, owned by ConAgra Foods, Inc. that makes Slim Jim beef jerky and other snack foods exploded killing three employees. The explosion in the 500,000 square foot building was powerful enough to bring down part of the roof and one of the exterior walls. Thirty-eight other employees were injured, including four critically with burns over much of their bodies. Three firefighters were treated and released after inhaling ammonia fumes. The plant's 32,000 pound ammonia refrigeration system was ruptured in the explosion and the leak has kept investigators out until now.

Federal investigators are just now beginning to make their way to the center of the area where they believe the explosion occurred. While they do not have any definitive answers, they are fairly certain that it was not caused by propane igniting. This is cold comfort to the families of the dead and seriously injured who are looking for answers. Around 300 people were working in the plant at the time of the explosion, and some of those interviewed have said they smelled gas prior to the explosion.

Work related accidents injure and kill many people every year. Oftentimes this is the result of unsafe conditions that were known about previously but never fixed. These sorts of accidents, like the plant explosion, may be pursued by an experienced premises liability attorney. If anyone is killed, the victim's family may pursue a wrongful death suit.

If you have been injured or lost a loved one in a work-related accident, please contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at the Cochran Law Firm with offices nationwide.

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