Washington-SANA
US authorities have called on residents of four towns to leave their homes following an explosion at a chemical plant in Port Niches, eastern Texas.
Jefferson County officials had asked residents of the area within a 4-mile radius of the TBC group's chemical plant in Port Neches to leave when a chemical distillation tower exploded during firefighting efforts, Reuters reported.
Evacuation orders for 60,000 people in Port Niches, Texas, were ordered to leave. The explosion injured three workers and severely damaged operations at the site, following other fires at Texas petrochemical production and storage facilities.
A fire at a petrochemical plant in northeast Houston in May killed one worker and injured another, while another fire in July at a chemical plant at Exxon Mobil Corp. in Baytown, Texas, injured 37 people.
