The Director of the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center, Dr. Bruce Cairns, held an impromptu press conference today at UNC hospitals to say that of the seven victims of the ConAgra Foods Plants that exploded in Garner on Tuesday.

Four are in critical condition.

Tuesday’s explosion at the Garner Slim Jim meat products plant threw workers off their feet and ripped the ConAgra Foods building’s roof off. The site employs 900 people producing food products. As many as 300 workers were on the scene when the explosion occurred.  Three people were found dead and 40 people were transported to area hospitals, of the latter; three firefighters who needed medical attention after inhaling ammonia gases have also been hospitalized.
During today’s press conference, Cairns credited UNC’s emergency planning that accepting the patients went quickly and smoothly.

The US Chemical Safety Board, also known as CSB, is an independent federal agency that has been charged with investigating the explosion. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The CSB will investigate all aspects of the accidents including physical causes such as equipment failure, inadequacies in regulations, and possible inappropriate industry standards and safety management errors.

Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the explosion.