AP Photo Flames shoot into the air at the Bayer Plant in Institute Thursday. An explosion at the chemical plant, which sent a fireball hundreds of feet into the air and could be felt miles away, occurred about 10:25 p.m. Thursday, killing one worker and injuring another.

INSTITUTE, W.Va. - One worker was killed and a second injured in an explosion at a Bayer CropScience plant that shook an area west of Charleston. The explosion, which sent a fireball hundreds of feet into the air and could be felt miles away, occurred about 10:25 p.m. Thursday. The blast occurred in a section of the plant where waste products are treated before disposal, Bayer spokesman Mike Wey said. The unit had been closed for maintenance and was restarted earlier in the week, he said. A worker who had been missing, was killed in the explosion, Kanawha County Emergency Management Director Dale Petry said Friday. He did not have any other details. Wey said the injured worker suffered burns and was transferred to a Pittsburgh hospital. A company emergency responder was treated at the plant infirmary for heat stress, Wey said. An eight-person crew normally works the unit at the plant, Wey said. The other six workers were not injured, he said.