TUPELO -- 1 DEAD, 18 HURT.

Tupelo (UPI) -- A 51-year-old Mantachie man died today from critical burns he received Thursday in an explosion of a Tupelo dog and fish food manufacturing plant. Eighteen other persons were injured.
George Maynard, director of public relations at the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, said NEWMAN MASSEY died at University of Mississippi Medical Center about 3:15 a.m. today. MASSEY was burned over 89 percent of his body.
Maynard said five other victimsd remained in critical condition -- three in Delta Medical Center at Greenville and two in University Hospital in Jackson. Four persons were listed in satisfactory condition at a Memphis Hospital and six were listed in satisfactory or fair condition in Tupelo.
Authorities speculated the explosion may have been triggered by a spark from either electrical or welding work being conducted at the site.
"I understand there was some welding, some electrical work, but that's still normal," said chief Curtis Sanders of the Tupelo Fire Department.
"That type of work goes on all the time in the plant. As far as I know, you wouldn't call that unusual."
Authorities said the explosion apparently originated in a grain drying room of the Sunshine Mills and Grain Inc. plant about 11:30 a.m. A flash fire was quickly brought under control, but not before it had burned some employees critically.
Witnesses said the explosion blew debris 100 to 150 feet into the air. It buckled concrete walls, ripped away metal roofing and siding and damaged smaller buildings in the mill complex.
Officials said the explosion may have started from two large food processors in the plant's grain drying room.
Sunshine office manager L. H. Sides said he was sitting at his desk in another building when the explosion hit. "It sounded like somebody was bombing us," he said. "It sounded like three or four bombs went off. We had a flash and then just smoke."
Some workers said they heard a big explosion and saw workers running down an aisle with their clothing ablaze.
"Some of us ran and caught the people and put the fire out and took them outside," Wendell Dillard of Pontotoc said.
"People had their hair and clothes burned off," said plant employee Aaron McClendon, who was among those injured. "It was pitiful."
Three of the injured were employees of Jesco Construction Co. Inc. and two were workers for McCulley Electrical Co. -- two local firms that were conducting repair and maintenance work at the plant at the time of the explosion.
Ten of the 19 persons injured in the accident were seriously burned and were transferred to burn centers in Jackson, Greenville and Memphis, Tenn. Six were hospitalized in Tupelo and three others were treated there and released.
Four of the victims were listed in satisfactory condition with second degree burns at Baptist Hospital in Memphis, three were listed in critical condition with third degree burns at the Delta Medical Center in Greenville and three were listed in stable condition with burns at the University Medical center in Jackson.
Plant manager Daryl Smith said there were no persons missing or unaccounted for.
The two hospitalized in critical condition at University Medical Center in Jackson were ELBERT FLOYD DANIEL, 57, of Tupelo and JOHN C. WHITEHEAD, 47, of Ecru. Both men are employed by Sunshine.
Those listed in critical condition at the Delta Medical Center in Greenville included T. S. STUBBLEFIELD of Tupelo; GERALD WHITEHEAD, 41, of Ecru; and ROBERT SHANNON, 25, of Shannon. They also were employees of Sunshine.

Delta Democrat Times Greenville Mississippi 1977-12-23
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!