One person was critically injured and six others were hospitalized following a hazmat incident at an industrial park in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, on Tuesday.
Fire officials said an ammonia line at JT Inman Co. on Larsen Way was accidentally cut, resulting in the contents spilling into the building.
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Seven people were taken to area hospitals, North Attleborough Fire Chief Chris Coleman said. One was taken to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition with non-life-threatening injuries, and the other six suffered minor injuries. All of those injured were employees at the facility, he said.
Coleman said his department responded to the scene around 10 a.m. for a report of an ammonia leak inside the building.
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"We were getting reports that the ammonia line was cut and they were evacuating the building," he said.
Aerial video showed over a dozen fire, police vehicles and ambulances at the scene.
Upon arrival, Coleman said firefighters determined that a 2,000 gallon ammonia tank located outside of the building that had been out of use for some time but was still full began leaking into the building when workers accidentally cut a line inside the building.
"Ammonia is a very poisonous gas," the fire chief said. "Where it is put in a predicament like this where the piping is cut, it's toxic."
The ammonia was ultimately shut off from the exterior by firefighters and a state hazmat team was called in. Two neighboring businesses were also evacuated, but fire officials said there was no hazard to the public.
The hazmat team was in the process of going into the building on Tuesday afternoon to make sure the ammonia levels had adequately dispersed.
The cause of the incident is under investigation.
