One person died and several others were injured Thursday when a chemical was released at a Houston-area industrial plant, a Texas sheriff said.
Authorities warned nearby residents to stay inside and close doors and windows.
One of the people injured was transported to a hospital by a helicopter, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez wrote on the social platform X. City officials in Pasadena, a Houston suburb, told residents on social media that hydrogen sulfide had been released at a Pemex facility.
Television news crews showed multiple ambulances and emergency vehicles at the scene.
Gonzalez said preliminary information indicated it was a “chemical release” but did not elaborate.
In a statement obtained by CBS affiliate KHOU, Pemex said that the release was first reported at 4:40 p.m. local time at one of its “operating units.”
“The incident is contained to our site and has been isolated,” the statement read. The company added that personnel from several government agencies had responded.
The plant is located in the suburb of Deer Park, where city officials issued a shelter-in-place order for nearby residents “out of precaution.”
In a post to social media late Thursday night, the Deer Park Office of Emergency Management said that the shelter-in-place order had been lifted. It said that Harris County agencies were “reporting no hazardous chemicals within the community.”
Houston is the nation’s petrochemical heartland and is home to a cluster of refineries and plants.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, hydrogen sulfide is a colorless gas that is extremely flammable and highly toxic.
The effects of exposure can “range from mild, headaches or eye irritation, to very serious, unconsciousness and death,” the OSHA said.
