Explosion at Connecticut Power Plant Causes Fatalities & Injuries
During the morning of February 7, 2010 an explosion took place at a Middletown, Connecticut power plant. Witnesses and emergency response authorities said as many as 100 people were injured and an undetermined number may have died when a massive explosion, which homeowners felt more than 10 miles away and mistook for an earth quake, according to a Hartford Courant news report.
Medical rescue personnel said at least 100 were injured, four critically, and two were dead. “There are bodies everywhere,” a witness said. Another witness said many victims may be buried in rubble. An hour after the explosion emergency rescue personnel were continuing to arrive by vehicle and helicopter. Helicopters were airlifting victims to area hospitals.
Neighbors of the plant said as many as 100 employees may have been working there when the explosion took place. Confirmed information about damage and injuries from authorities was difficult to obtain.
A resident of East Hampton almost directly across the river from the plant said he heard a load booming explosion at about 11 a.m. immediately afterward his house was hit with a concussion that caused him to believe someone had driven an automobile into his home. The concussion interrupted services at a nearby East Hampton church, causing parishioners to speculate that the area had just experienced an earthquake.
A witness looking at the destruction from across the river in Portland said the main plant building seemed to have been substantially leveled.
