Victims of Thiokol plant explosion remembered 50 years later
Surviving workers, South Georgia community honors 29 killed on Feb. 3, 1971
Published:
Updated:
Tags:
That community gathered Wednesday to remember one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the United States.
Workers at that plant made trip flares for American soldiers to use in the Vietnam War at a 36-building facility on a former cotton plantation in Northeast Camden County. Building 132, where the explosion took place, included the assembly line and was where much of the explosives were stored.
About 80 people mostly Black women worked in the building, which was leveled by the blast. Three other nearby buildings were severely damaged and the fire engulfed nearby pine trees, which started a forest fire that eventually scorched 200 acres.