Explosion at Kansas aircraft plant injures 15

WASHINGTON, Dec 28 (MENA) - More than a dozen people were injured Friday in an explosion at a Beechcraft aircraft manufacturing plant in Kansas that caused part of a building to collapse, NBC News quoted officials as saying.

A 3-inch nitrogen line ruptured, causing the 8 a.m. explosion at the Wichita plant, Sedgwick County fire chief Daniel Wegner said during a morning news conference.

There were 15 injuries. One injury was potentially serious.

John Gallagher, the county’s emergency services director, said 11 people were taken to hospitals and four were treated at the scene.

No one was killed, and James Fromme, a chief for the Wichita Fire Department, said there were no reports of anyone trapped in the building.

Stephanie Harder, a spokeswoman for Beechcraft’s parent company, Textron Aviation, said the building that partially collapsed houses composite manufacturing and experimental aircraft operations.

Officials are investigating the explosion and monitoring for any residual effects. All contractors, employees and visitors to the plant have been accounted for.