Church acts as triage center after sugar refinery blast kills eight

Published: 2008-02-14

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- After an explosion ripped through the Imperial Sugar refinery in the Savannah, Ga., suburb of Port Wentworth the night of Feb. 7, Father Michael Kavanaugh said, "I opened the church and turned on all the lights, and opened the parish hall and turned on all the lights, because I just knew there was going to be a crowd. And there was," said the priest, who is pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. The parish church is directly across the street from the plant. The church's front lawn served as a triage center for refinery workers injured in the blast. No exact count was given, but an estimated 95-100 people were believed working in the plant when the explosion occurred. Eight people died from the blast, with one person still unaccounted for nearly a week after the explosion. As of Feb. 14, firefighters were still battling the blaze at the refinery. Also, 16 workers were still in the hospital, and officials said 14 of them were in critical condition.

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