Workers escaped leak by going through nitrogen fog

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Workers at a northeast Georgia poultry plant said they escaped through a fog of vaporizing liquid nitrogen that killed six of their co-workers, as an investigation continued Friday into the cause of the leak at Foundation Food 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.

Three workers remained hospitalized Friday in critical condition said Beth Downs, a spokesperson for Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. One person with lesser injuries was released Friday.

Relatives of several deceased workers declined comment Friday to The Associated Press. The plant remained closed and ringed by yellow police tape. Scattered flowers, wreaths and candles were dropped off on the property’s perimeter as memorials.

Investigators have begun evaluating equipment at the plant that could have played a role in the leak, but said its location and cause had yet to be determined. The state fire marshal’s office has ruled out a shut-off valve on piping that connects a nitrogen storage tank outside the building to equipment inside, but the agency does not oversee other equipment at the plant, spokesman Weston Burleson said. Burleson referred additional questions to authorities in Hall County, who he said are leading the investigation along with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.