An ammonia leak sparked an explosion Friday morning at a northwest suburban warehouse, sending two people to the hospital and forcing the plant and nearby buildings to be evacuated, police said.
Though the cause of the leak and explosion at the Grecian Delight plant remains unknown, investigators learned the leak occurred in an area under construction and the first calls came in from a passerby on a nearby road.
Elk Grove Village Police confirmed the explosion occurred at 7:15 a.m. in the 1200 block of Tonne Road.
The active leak has since been stopped, but officials said vapors inside the building were still an issue and the plant remained off limits Friday afternoon.
About 100 workers were transported to a nearby facility after the incident.
A woman who works at the plant suffered burns, and a male technician who works with the Elk Grove Fire Department was transported for exhaustion after working in a stifling Level A haz-mat suit.
"We have the leak stopped," Chief Richard Mikel said. "The ammonia leak that was inside the building has been stopped by our haz-mat entry team. A significant amount of the product is off-gassing. ... We're trying to get that product out of the building."
Surrounding businesses that were initially evacuated were later approved to go back to work.
