According to CNN and other foreign media reports, a liquid nitrogen leak accident was suspected in a poultry processing plant in Georgia on Thursday local time.
Local police and fire department officials said that the accident had killed at least 6 people and 12 people were sent to hospital.
The accident occurred at the Foundation Food Group plant in Gainesville County, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta, the capital of Georgia.
Nicholas Ancrum, spokesman for the foundation food group, said that it seems that the accident caused by the rupture of the nitrogen pipe is under investigation.
Local officials said that five of the six people died in the factory, and one other died in the emergency room after being taken to the hospital.
All 12 people sent to the hospital had respiratory problems, including one who died in the emergency room, three in critical condition, five in good condition, and three were discharged from the hospital after receiving medical treatment.
Among the injured were four firefighters, all of whom felt that their respiratory tract was not smooth. In addition, after the accident, about 130 people were evacuated to nearby churches.
“All the people who are working today didn’t expect this to happen, so please keep praying,” said local sheriff Gerald Kush.
He said that all the bodies of the deceased have been removed from the factory, and the authorities are trying to identify them and notify their families.
Nitrogen is reported to be an inert gas that turns into a liquid when it is too cold, so it is widely used in frozen food processing plants.
But according to the University of Delaware in the United States, liquid nitrogen gas released in closed space can quickly replace oxygen in the air and lungs, causing the human body to lose consciousness and cause fatal asphyxia.
This is not the first time that a liquid nitrogen leak in the United States has caused death and injury recently.
According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, last month, two workers at a food processing plant in Los Angeles County died unconsciously, and the cause of death is also obviously related to the liquid nitrogen leakage there.
