POWDOW.COM
 
MIDDLETOWN, Conn.—An explosion rocked a natural-gas power plant Sunday in Middletown, Conn., sending earthquake-like shock waves miles away. At least five people were killed, 12 were injured and an undetermined number of people were missing, authorities said.

A state official who said he was briefed by emergency personnel said the toll was unlikely to rise significantly. The official said the gas explosion was caused by a "flame device'' that a victim's son had been told was a propane heater.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation isn't investigating the explosion as a terrorist act, said William Reiner, a supervisory special agent in the FBI's New Haven, Conn., office, who said he felt the force of the blast while driving about 20 miles away from the plant site.

At 11:25 a.m., the explosion ripped through the Kleen Energy Systems LLC natural-gas power plant being built here in a sparse industrial area along the bank of the Connecticut River. Four pipefitters who were inside the main generator building were killed immediately, according to the state official.

Emergency rescue teams, some with rescue dogs, descended on the scene and were airlifting injured workers by helicopter to nearby hospitals.
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