Explosion at East Baltimore Coca-Cola plant sends two to the hospital

Four people were injured on Sunday morning after an explosion at the Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated in East Baltimore.

The explosion occurred after a pressure valve that handled carbon dioxide went off around 9:30 a.m., said John Marsh, a spokesperson for the Baltimore City Fire Department.

Responders treated the four people at the scene located at the 700 block of N. Kresson Street, he said. Two of those people were sent to the hospital with one person in critical condition. The other person had serious injuries but was stable.

Fire crews had left the scene by Sunday afternoon but the incident is still under investigation.

In a Sunday night email, the Coca-Cola Consolidated Company stated its continuing to conduct a “thorough investigation.”

“What we’ve learned is that earlier today, employees of an external vendor were injured while performing CO₂-related work inside our facility‚" said Ashley Brown, the company’s director of External Communications. “Those individuals were immediately transported to a local hospital for evaluation and care.”

This story has been updated to say the pressure valve handled carbon dioxide instead of carbon monoxide.