Macedonia officials provided an update on Wednesday afternoon in what is being called a "tragic industrial accident" involving a tank explosion with sodium hydroxide.
The explosion happened on Wednesday morning at Royal Chemical in the 8000 block of South Freeway Drive. Upon arriving at the scene, fire officials found a tanker truck ripped in half from the explosion.
According to Macedonia Fire Chief Brian Ripley, three people were injured in the incident. Two individuals were taken to MetroHealth in Cleveland, one victim with life-threatening burns and another in critical condition.
"Right now, we are working to contain the environment. We believe it went into a small creek located on the east side of the building," said Ripley, who expects officials to be cleaning up for hours.
Ripley noted that the spill was contained to company property and that both buildings of Royal Chemical were evacuated.
At this time, the cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
According to the Macedonia Police Department, South Freeway Drive is closed in both directions in the area of Royal Chemical due to the explosion.
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