10 pm Update: Multi-Chem Comments on New Iberia Explosion

Posted: Jun 14, 2011 11:17 PM by Maddie Garrett
Updated: Jun 14, 2011 11:18 PM

Multi-Chem representatives arrived in New Iberia Tuesday night to assess the situation at their facility in New Iberia and begin investigating what caused the massive explosion.

Multi-Chem also confirmed there were no injuries from this incident, saying all employees followed safety procedures and evacuated the plant quickly. However, the company could not speculate on which chemicals were involved in the fire or what caused the explosion.

Multi-Chem said the area where the explosion took place was a storage facility, and that a variety of chemicals and inventory come in and go from that facility every day. The company will have to wait until all fires are out before they can go in and conduct an investigation to determine a cause and what chemicals were involved.

State Police said at 10:00 p.m. that the fires were still burning at Multi-Chem. The one mile mandatory evacuation is still in place and will remain in effect until at least Wednesday morning.

Multi-Chem could not confirm the extent of the damage to the plant, but did say that the storage facility and blending facility had serious damage. There is also a regional office and laboratory on the premises that did not suffer any damage.