Ammonia leak at N.C. plant kills 1 worker, injures 3

LUMBER BRIDGE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say an ammonia leak at a poultry processing plant in North Carolina has killed one person and injured three others.

The leak occurred Saturday at the Mountaire Farms plant in Robeson County in southern-central North Carolina, about 16 miles south of Fayetteville.

WRAL-TV in Raleigh identified the deceased as Clifton Swain of Fayetteville.

County Emergency Management Director Charles Britt told The Fayetteville Observer that the leak has been contained.

The three injured have been taken to the hospital. They have not been identified.

Two of the injured men were being treated at Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton, N.C., said spokeswoman Amanda Crabtree.

She did not provide further details.

It was not immediately clear how the person died or what caused the leak.

Authorities said in an afternoon briefing that 30 to 40 people were at the plant when the leak occurred.

The plant employs 2,500 people overall.

A call to Mountaire Farms was not immediately returned Saturday.

However, the company issued a statement expressing condolences for the victims and promising to cooperate with authorities.