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Explosion at Pilgrim's Pride injures one
Cause of explosion unknown at this time
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Pilgrim’s Pride employees and Gainesville Fire Department officials gather on the sidewalk of Industrial Boulevard Monday after one of the chicken plant’s boilers exploded, damaging an overhead door.
GAINESVILLE — An apparent boiler explosion sent one Pilgrim’s Pride employee to Northeast Georgia Medical Center Monday afternoon, fire officials said.

Industrial Boulevard was closed as Gainesville firefighters worked to find the cause of an explosion that dented a rollup door on the outside of the plant.

A representative for Northeast Georgia Medical Center said the patient is in serious condition, but would not name the employee or give any information about the extent of the employee’s injuries. The explosion occurred at about 4 p.m. at the plant at 949 Industrial Blvd.

Employees of the area where the explosion happened were relocated to other parts of the plant while the investigation continued Monday.

As some of the plant’s employees filed out of the plant at the end of their shift, many of them said they did not know what had happened.

One man, who was working across the street at Koch Foods at the time of the explosion, said he heard a "loud boom," and when he went outside to investigate there was light smoke coming from the Pilgrim’s Pride building.

As of Monday night, Gainesville’s Interim Fire Chief Jon Canada said damage to the plant and the cause of the explosion were still under investigation.