Tyson Foods is weighing up how to restart a plant in the US state of Georgia after a fire over the Christmas period left one woman dead and two others needing hospital treatment.
The cause of the fire and subsequent explosion at its facility in the town of Camilla, in Mitchell County, in the early hours of 27 December is being investigated. Reports suggested the fire burned at the site for three hours.
News agency Bloomberg, quoting “a person familiar with the matter”, reported on Tuesday (31 December) that Tyson plans to re-open the plant in phases and aims to have the factory fully or near-fully operational next week.
Just Food has asked Tyson, outside of US office hours, for details of its plans to re-open the plant and for a statement on the fire.
Around 1,600 people work at the facility, which Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm brands owner Tyson bought in 2018 as part of its $2.16bn acquisition of Keystone Foods. The plant primarily produces chicken nuggets and chicken fillets for foodservice customers.
Mitchell County Coroner Robby Willis told news agency The Associated Press that a woman identified as Bajarma Batozhapov died when a wall fell on the cab of an 18-wheel truck parked outside the plant in which she was asleep.
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The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which represents workers at the plant, said in a statement issued the day after the fire that a boiler had exploded.
Stuart Appelbaum, the union’s president, said: “We are working with the company and local emergency authorities to ensure that all the workers impacted are taken care of. The health and safety of workers must be a top priority at poultry plants, and we are working to assist anyone injured last night.”
It added: “Our members and the community of Camilla depend on this facility operating, it is too early to tell what happened last night but there must be a thorough investigation into this incident and workers must be able to work safely in the facility.”
