NEWBURYPORT, Mass.—A worker was killed Thursday after a powerful explosion tore through a pharmaceutical chemical plant in Massachusetts, ripping the roof off the building and prompting a U.S. senator to demand accountability from the plant’s owners.
Acting Newburyport Fire Chief Stephen Bradbury did not publicly identify the person who died, but said crews recovered the body from the building. Initially, the search was hampered by concern about the plant’s structural integrity following the blast that sent flames leaping high above the building and scattering industrial debris nearby.
