Several people were injured in a massive explosion and fire at a metal manufacturing plant in Oakwood Village, Ohio, Monday afternoon, multiple outlets reported.
“It was like a bomb,” Joey Sarconi told Cleveland.com.
“I ducked and covered inside my car. When I looked up, there was just a dark cloud of smoke and then an explosion,” the Maple Heights resident also said, adding that he was grateful to be alive. Sarconi has worked across the street from the plant for 20 years.
Gravel and steel beams flew into the sky around the plant, Sarconi also told the outlet.
“The fire department sent EMS units to the site and transferred an unknown number of people to a local hospital,” the Akron Beacon Journal reported, referencing Lt. Marcus Ketner of the Twinsburg Fire Department.
Some victims were brought to MetroHealth Medical Center, according to Fox 8. The number of patients and their conditions are not yet known.
The explosion happened in the 22500 block of Alexander Road at I Schumann & Co. The family-owned business, established in 1917, is a brass and bronze alloy manufacturer, according to the company’s website.
Though the official address of the plant is in Bedford, Fox 8 explains the area is considered to be Oakwood Village.
Billowing plumes of smoke could be seen for miles, the outlet also reported.
“A major explosion was reported on Alexander Road in Oakwood Village / Bedford Heights area, and multiple fire departments have been called to assist. DOPPLER RADAR has detected the smoke from the explosion in the air,” Spectrum News 1 chief meteorologist Eric Elwell reported on Twitter, including a video of the radar imagery.
Multiple people posted images and videos to Twitter of the aftermath, including news stations, media personalities, and others.
SkyFOX provided aerial footage of the massive blast, which included shots of firefighters battling the structural fire and a blue truck engulfed in flames in the parking lot.
A pair of eyewitness, who provided video from quite a distance away, seemed overcome by what they had seen. “Wow, that’s f****** insane,” said one. “It’s scary, honestly,” said another.
The fire was largely extinguished by 3:39 p.m. local time, News 5 Cleveland reported.
Oakwood Village is about 75 miles northwest of East Palestine, Ohio, where residents continue to suffer from a variety of physical, environmental, and economic problems following a train derailment on February 3.
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