Illinois has lately seen its fair share of factory explosions. A couple of weeks ago we wrote about an explosion in Cary, and now an accident at a plant in Pekin has left four workers injured.
The explosion happened at an Enviro-Safe Refrigerants plant and is thought to have been caused by a malfunction in a gas line. An investigation was ongoing at the time of a news report.
The blast was so powerful that part of the roof and brick walls of the building were destroyed. Two workers were said to be in serious condition and were taken by helicopter to a Rockford hospitals burn unit. Two other employees were treated at a hospital in Peoria. A spokesperson for that facility said that all of the injured workers suffered burns.
Investigators believe the blast happened near an assembly line in the building, which was once a distillery. Now the plant pressure-bottles refrigerants. The business owner indicated that he would cooperate with investigators and review video from security cameras in the building to determine what might have caused the explosion.
One witness who lives near the plant said that wheezing and coughing workers quickly evacuated the scene through a back door. He was in his home at the time of the blast and said he heard a big kaboom.
While the injured factory workers may have a tough road to recovery, they will undoubtedly be entitled to workers compensation benefits. Anyone with questions about what to do after a workplace accident may want to visit our Illinois workers compensation site.
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