Man killed in Nash County plant explosion identified

MIDDLESEX, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Authorities have identified a man killed in a water purification plant explosion in Nash County on Friday morning.

The explosion happened just after 9:30 a.m. at the Pencco Corp plant off US 264A in Middlesex. The plant manager, 64-year-old Dale Allen Bachmann, died.

An employee happened to be driving by when the explosion occurred, and he called 911.

Images from Chopper 11 HD showed some damage to one of the white tanks at the facility. The explosion happened in an outside area, not inside the facility.

The Middlesex Police Chief told ABC11 that officers arrived to find Bachmann dead at the scene. He was working there alone when the explosion happened.

There were no other injuries.

A HazMat team was called in to clean up the debris and was still on the scene late Friday afternoon.