Fire at Tyson Foods poultry plant in Georgia kills one, company says

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A fire overnight at a Tyson Foods poultry plant in Camilla, Georgia, killed one person and injured several others, the company said in a statement on Friday.

Tyson, the biggest U.S. meat company by sales, is working closely with local authorities to determine the cause of the fire, the statement said.

"Right now we are still gathering the facts," a Tyson spokesperson said in the statement, adding, "we are conducting a full investigation into the cause of the fire."

A poultry workers' union said one person had been pinned under debris following a boiler explosion that occurred at the Camilla facility between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m. EST.

Additionally, several union members were "severely burned," Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), said in a statement. The union said it represents more than 15,000 poultry workers in the southern United States, including about 1,600 workers at the Tyson facility in Camilla.

A rebound in Tyson's chicken business helped the company to beat Wall Street expectations for its fourth-quarter earnings in November, offsetting losses in beef.

Tyson has closed six U.S. chicken plants since the start of 2023, as well as an Iowa pork plant and a beef and pork plant in Emporia, Kansas, laying off thousands of workers.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago; Editing by Aurora Ellis)