Explosion at Kentucky business injures 11 workers, shatters windows in surrounding neighborhood

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — At least 11 employees were taken to hospitals after an explosion Tuesday at a Louisville, Kentucky, plant caused a partial collapse of the building and blew out windows in nearby homes and businesses.

The explosion occurred around 3 p.m. at Givaudan Sense Colour, which produces colorings for food and drinks. Firefighters rescued and evacuated many people from the building, including some with life-threatening injuries, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said in a statement Tuesday night.

Greenberg said officials have accounted for everyone who was working at the plant at the time.

The cause was under investigation. Greenberg said officials spoke to employees inside the plant and they “initially conveyed that everything was normal activity when the explosion occurred.”

Patrick Livers lives in a neighborhood immediately across the railroad tracks from the plant. He was at work when his mother, who had picked up his children from school and was bringing them home, called to say his home had been damaged by the explosion.

“I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ Then she showed me the video. I was like, ‘Oh you’ve got to be kidding me,” he said.

Livers said no one was home at the time. He said the explosion blew out windows up and down his street.

“The house is still standing. It’s just structural damage. If it was on a wall, it’s on the floor,” he said. “All the neighbors’ windows busted out, doors blown in. It looked like a small tornado went off inside the house.”

Steve Parobek was at work when the blast blew out the kitchen window in his apartment a block from the plant. He arrived home and found his cat safe and used two pizza boxes and some duct tape to cover his window as temperatures dropped steadily Tuesday night.

A Givaudan spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday night. No one answered the phone at the company’s Louisville office, and a man who answered at the Port Washington, Wisconsin, office declined to comment.

The University of Louisville Hospital treated seven of the injured and two were in critical condition, said Dr. Jason Smith, chief medical officer for University of Louisville Health. Hospital officials activated decontamination procedures for the victims, a process that involves removing their clothing and all the chemicals on them and then taking them for evaluation and treatment, Smith said.

Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said air monitoring began immediately after the explosion and “nothing at this point has ever shown any type of chemical problems in the air in this entire region.” O’Neill also said that fire officials “don’t precisely know yet exactly what types of leaks may happen or may be ongoing,” but he urged residents to stay calm.

The Louisville Fire Department was leading the investigation as of Tuesday night with help from state and federal partners. A reconstruction team from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was headed to Louisville to help determine the cause of the explosion.

In April 2003, an explosion at the same location killed a worker at a caramel-coloring plant owned by D.D. Williamson & Co. Givaudan acquired the plant from D.D. Williamson in 2021.

Federal investigators determined a pressure relief valve on a tank had been removed when the company moved the tank to its Louisville plant in 1989. The tank exploded because there was no relief valve, according to a report from the Chemical Safety Board.

Associated Press journalists John Raby and Bruce Schreiner contributed to this report.

This image taken from video from WHAS 11 News shows damage after an explosion injured multiple employees at Givaudan Sense Color, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (WHAS 11 News via AP)

This image taken from video from WHAS 11 News shows damage after an explosion injured multiple employees at Givaudan Sense Color, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (WHAS 11 News via AP)

Members of the Louisville Fire Departments check their gear as they prepare to enter Givaudan Sense Colour following an explosion at the facility in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Members of the Louisville Fire Departments check their gear as they prepare to enter Givaudan Sense Colour following an explosion at the facility in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Members of the Louisville Metro Police and Louisville Fire Departments block access to Givaudan Sense Colour following an explosion at the facility in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Members of the Louisville Metro Police and Louisville Fire Departments block access to Givaudan Sense Colour following an explosion at the facility in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

CETINJE, Montenegro (AP) — Shock and dismay prevailed in Montenegro on Thursday after a gunman fatally shot 12 people, including two children, in a western town before killing himself.

At least four others were wounded in the shooting rampage in Cetinje on Wednesday that followed a bar brawl, officials said. This was the second such incident in the town in the past three years.

Hundreds gathered on Thursday evening at the main square in Cetinje for a candlelight vigil in the memory of the victims.

Police Commissioner Lazar Šćepanović described Wednesday’s shooting as “one of the biggest tragedies in the history of Montenegro.”

He said at a news conference that the victims included seven men, three women and two children, born in 2011 and 2016.

“Most of the victims were people he knew, his closest friends and relatives,” including the shooter’s sister, Šćepanović said. “This criminal act wasn’t planned or organized. It was unpredictable.”

The shooter, identified as 45-year-old Aco Martinović, killed the owner of the bar, the bar owner's children and his own family members, officials have said.

The attacker, who first fled after the rampage, was later located and surrounded by police. He died after shooting himself in the head, police said.

Residents of Cetinje, a town of some 17,000 people, were stunned and grief-stricken.

"I knew all of these people personally, also the attacker. I think when he did that, he was out of his mind," said Vesko Milošević, a retiree from Cetnje. "What do I know, he went from place to place and killed people. Its a catastrophe.”

Vanja Popović, whose relatives are among the victims, said that “we are all in shock.”

“How can I feel after this?" Popović said. "No one expected it. You can’t even ask anyone anything.”

Police had dispatched a special unit to search for the attacker in the town, which is located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of Podgorica, the country's capital. All roads in and out of Cetinje were blocked for hours as police swarmed the streets.

Police said that the shooter had died while being taken to a hospital in the capital and succumbed from the “severity of his injuries.”

Officials have said that the attacker was at the bar throughout the day with other guests when the brawl erupted. He then went home, brought back a weapon and opened fire at around 5:30 p.m.

Prosecutor Andrijana Nastić said Thursday that the attacker went to six locations during the shooting rampage, including the last one, where he shot himself.

Four men were killed at the bar, she said. The shooter then moved on to another location where he killed four more people, and then two children at a third site. He then went on to kill two more people at two other locations before eventually shooting himself, Nastić said.

“Further investigation will determine the exact circumstances of the events,” she added.

The government has declared three days of national mourning starting on Thursday, and all planned New Year's festivities have been canceled throughout the country.

Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said that the government may try to impose a total ban on weapons “because we must ask ourselves after this who should be allowed to have guns in Montenegro.”

The small Adriatic Sea nation, which has a population of around 620,000 people, is known for its gun culture and many people traditionally have weapons.

In August 2022 in Cetinje, which is Montenegro’s historic capital, an attacker killed 10 people, including two children, before he was shot and killed by a passerby.

Police have said that the suspect in Wednesday's shooting received a suspended sentence in 2005 for violent behavior and had appealed his latest conviction for illegal weapons possession. Montenegrin media have reported that he was known for erratic and violent behavior.

“Instead of holiday joy ... we have been gripped by sadness over the loss of innocent lives,” Montenegro's President Jakov Milatović said in a post on X.

Associated Press writers Jovana Gec and Dušan Stojanović contributed to this report from Belgrade, Serbia.

A view of blood by the door of a bar after a shooting incident, in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

A police car outside a house after a shooting incident, in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

A view of a bar after a shooting incident, in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

A view of a police vehicle at the home of a gunman after a shooting incident, in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

A view of a police vehicle at the home of a gunman after a shooting incident, in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Police officers stand guard at the home of a gunman after a shooting incident, in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Police officers stand guard at the home of a gunman after a shooting incident, in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

A police officer stands guard at the scene after a shooting incident at a bar, in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Rescue workers work at the site of a shooting in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Wednesday, Jan 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Police investigators work at the site of a shooting in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Wednesday, Jan 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Police investigators work at the site of a shooting in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Wednesday, Jan 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)