1 injured after explosion at Houston phenol plant

Houston, March 23

One person was injured and hospitalised after an explosion rocked a phenol plant in the US city of Houston, authorities said.

The explosion occurred at about 12.30 p.m. on Wednesday during liquid propane transfer from a tanker truck to another tanker at the INEOS Phenol Cumene plant in Pasadena, a suburb of Houston, Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said at a press conference.

Following the explosion, windows were rattled in Pasadena with black smoke visible from downtown Houston, according to local media reports.

The fire was declared extinguished nearly one hour later, reports Xinhua news agency.

Garcia said there were "no known impacts to the community at large".

The injured was the driver of a vehicle that exploded and now is in a fair condition, according to a report from local newspaper the Houston Chronicle.

The US Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston reported no pollution in the water, said the report.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement that county pollution control teams would remain at the scene "to monitor the situation and ensure there is no threat to public health or safety."

"These incidents continue to happen to often in our community, and that is unacceptable," Hidalgo said.

Authorities described the explosion as a BLEVE, an acronym for a boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion.

An investigation in underway.

The INEOS Phenol Cumene plant opened in 1978 and produces cumene, an organic compound that is used in a variety of petroleum products, according to the company's website.