Worker dead after explosion at North Carolina plant

WADESBORO, N.C. — One worker is dead after an explosion at a North Carolina plant, according to a county official.

Firefighters called to the Darling Ingredients rendering plant in the Wadesboro area around 9 p.m. Thursday found a plume of smoke, Anson County Emergency Services Chief Rodney Diggs said.

After air monitoring determined that there wasn’t a threat, one employee was found dead, Diggs said. The explosion involved aluminum chloride and an investigation into the blast is ongoing, he said.

There's no threat to the community, Diggs said.

The explosion was at an ancillary building at the site, Darling Ingredients spokesperson Suann Guthrie said, and the rendering plant, where otherwise unusable parts of slaughtered animals are turned into usable products, has been shut down during the investigation, Darling Ingredients spokesperson Suann Guthrie said.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our employee,” Guthrie said.