West Virginia Chemical Plant Explosion Injures Four

A large explosion at a West Virginia chemical plant flung debris more than a mile away late on Tuesday night, injuring at least four people and forcing a nearby highway and some schools closed, officials said.

The four people were hospitalized, and officials told residents within a two-mile radius of the blast, about 15 miles southeast of Charleston, to shelter in place. Classes at more than a dozen schools were canceled on Wednesday as a precaution, a county official said.

The authorities were investigating the cause of the explosion, which apparently involved dry chlorine and methanol, Kent Carper, the Kanawha County Commission president, said early on Wednesday.

Firefighters worked to stabilize the blast, which settled into a controlled flare through the night, he said.

“There was a lot of great concern,” he said. “This explosion was so loud that people were describing it, they thought it was an airplane crash or bomb.”