Six people were pronounced dead following the incident. Author: LaPorsche Thomas Updated: 9:27 AM CST January 30, 2021
GAINESVILLE, Ga. Authorities have released the names of the six people that died Thursday following the Gainesville plant s liquid nitrogen leak.
According to the Hall County Sheriff s Office press release, the victims include five men and one woman:
Jose DeJesus Elias-Cabrera, 45, of Gainesville
Corey Alan Murphy, 35, of Clermont
Nelly Perez-Rafael, 28, of Gainesville
Saulo Suarez-Bernal, 41, of Dawsonville
Victor Vellez, 38, of Gainesville
Edgar Vera-Garcia, 28, of Gainesville
Authorities were called to Foundation Food Group, previously known as Prime Pak Foods on Memorial Park Drive Thursday to respond to the scene. Several others were taken to the hospital, including a few firefighters. Authorities said the preliminary investigation shows a nitrogen line ruptured.
Sheriff s deputies, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the state fire marshal were investigating the deaths and cause of the leak.
Five men and one woman, all employees of Foundation Food Group on Memorial Park Drive in Gainesville, have been identified as the victims in a deadly chemical leak at their workplace.
The Hall County Sheriff s Office spent the day and night Thursday notifying the families of the deceased. HCSO released their names this morning:
Jose DeJesus Elias-Cabrera, 45, of Gainesville
Corey Alan Murphy, 35, of Clermont
Nelly Perez-Rafael, 28, of Gainesville
Saulo Suarez-Bernal, 41, of Dawsonville
Victor Vellez , 38, of Gainesville
Edgar Vera-Garcia, 28, of Gainesville
Five of the victims died at the workplace, while the sixth person died at a local hospital.
Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch, at a 3:30 p.m. press conference on Thursday, asked the community to pray for the families of the victims.
Jeff Amy and Sudhin Thanawala
The Associated Press
ATLANTA – Workers at a northeast Georgia poultry plant said they escaped through a fog of vaporizing liquid nitrogen that killed six of their coworkers, as an investigation continued Friday into the cause of the leak at Foundation Foods Group.
The Hall County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims on Friday as: 45-year-old Jose DeJesus Elias-Cabrera of Gainesville; 35-year-old Corey Alan Murphy of Clermont; 28-year-old Nelly Perez-Rafael of Gainesville; 41-year-old Saulo Suarez-Bernal of Dawsonville; 38-year-old Victor Vellez of Gainesville; and 28-year-old Edgar Vera-Garcia of Gainesville.
Four people remained hospitalized, said Beth Downs, a spokesperson for Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, with three in critical condition and one in fair condition.
Six people have been killed and 10 taken to a hospital after a liquid nitrogen leak at a food processing plant near Gainesville in the US state of Georgia, officials said.
Fire crews from Hall County and Gainesville responded to a report of burns at Prime Pak Foods around 10.12 a.m. Thursday, Zachary Brackett from Hall County Fire Services said.
Units arrived and found a large group of employees that had evacuated, along with multiple people who were experiencing medical emergencies in and around the facility, Mr Brackett said.
A Hall County Sheriff guards the entrance to the campus of Free Chapel, a church where about 130 workers were taken by bus to be examined for injuries following a liquid nitrogen leak at nearby Prime Pak Foods in Gainesville, Georgia.(WGCL-TV via AP)