European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 7, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a a the stars and stripes saturday july 7,1990 in Channelview Texas apr an explosion and fire ripped through a City Block sized Section of a chemical Plant a like a rocket just took off a killing at least 7 workers authorities and witnesses said. Tab explosion occurred around 11 30 . Thursday As Crews were cleaning waste tanks at the Arco chemical co. Plant in Channelview a Houston suburb. The 564-acre Complex employs about 350 people and also uses some outside contract workers. A a it a a terrible tragedy a said Plant manager Earl Mccaleb his voice breaking. Linda Proust a spokeswoman for the Harris county sheriffs department said 17 fatalities were confirmed by late Friday mornings one worker remained unaccounted for she said. None of the victims was immediately identified. Mccaleb said the Blaze was not extinguished until More than four hours after the explosion. ,. The blast occurred in a Utility area a Remote Section that provides Cooling water Ana steam for Plant operations. The explosion involved two tanks containing waste water and some hydrocarbons Mccaleb said. Officials said there were an in Salty Large number of people in the area because Crews were cleaning the tanks. Authorities had not determined a cause for the explosion. Assistant Secretary of labor Gerard f. Scan Nell was in route to Houston Friday morning the labor department said. Quot i seen a big Flash Cross in front of my eyes. 1 looked Over to my left and i saw a big Ball of fire. It looked to me like a tank run off you know like a rocket just took off a Mike Zugel a truck Driver who witnessed of . A Dart Mart new York apr police released a sketch of a Man from descriptions Given by 46 women who say they were hit by darts while walking on Midtown Manhattan streets. Chief of detectives Joseph Demartino said the latest victim found a homemade Dart dangling from a the backside of her clothing Quot when she returned to her office from a lunchtime shopping trip thursday. Like 17 darts recovered from other attacks it was made from a pin or Needle with a paper Stabilizer and probably was blown through a Straw Dmartino said. Polk said women should not panic because Needles and pins recovered had not been doctor cd and showed no indication they could carry an infection. All the victims were women usually wearing business clothes or skirts suspect Demartino said thurs Days victim was the first Black woman to report an attack he said. The police sketch of the a Dartman a As new Yorkus tabloids have dubbed the City a latest unusual criminal shows a Black Man with a Mustache and neatly trimmed Beard. Police say he is 5-Fcet-6 to 5-feet-8, weighs 135 to 150 pounds and May Wear glasses and carry a Black bag. All the attacks have occurred on Busy streets from 21 is to 54th streets Between Madison and seventh avenues an area encompassing the garment District times Square and Rockefeller Center. If arrested the suspect might be charged with reckless endangerment assault or possibly felonious assault if a serious injury resulted from a Dart attack Demartino said. Okla chemical Plant explosion Houston Ark Channelview % 7777777/77% the explosion told Cable news network. A there were no evacuations of people living in the area according to fire dispatcher Karen Ragsdale. Rose Ann Raupp an investigator for the Harris county medical examiners office said her office was working with Plant employees to recover the bodies. A the area is roughly about a City Block a Jack Johnson president of Philadelphia based Arco chemical of North America said late Friday morning. A a it a pretty watching the fire Chuck Johnson left and Tom Walyer watch from atop Pedro dome 15 Miles Northeast of Fairbanks Alaska As a wildfire Burns below. The fire which was listed As a contained Quot on thursday burned about 300 acres. It was one of about 159 raging across Alaska As 90-degree temperatures Low humidity and a rash of lightning strikes fuelled the  holds up work on King site Memphis Tenn. Apr a protester camped in front of the Mote where Martin Luther King or. Was assassinated has stopped construction of a civil rights museum there. The Lorraine Motel where the civil rights Leader was killed in 19 it a is to become the Centrepiece of a $9 million civil rights museum. Put protester Jacqueline Smith describes the Lorraine As Quot sacred  she contends it should become housing for the homeless not a museum. Construction manager Anthony Vecaro said thursday he stopped the state run project on monday because Smith a former resident and employee of the Motel is camped on a sidewalk that must be torn up for Utility lines. The museum is scheduled to open on july 4, 1991. Vecaro said the slate has informed him that he is responsible for removing Smith since she was Quot an existing site condition Quot when the construction contract was awarded. Obvious the explosion at the tank was devastating to that particular portion of the Plant. A a it a been a tremendous Strain on All of the employees Here at the Plant. We continue to work to Clear the lines and finish the cleanup. We currently Are moving that portion of the tank and the  Mccaleb said the blast involved tanks that collected waste water and some chemicals from the Plant. The material is pumped from one tank to another before it is disposed of. Kathryn Cox a member of the Plant cleaning Crew said she and several fellow workers had just finished their jobs when they heard the blast. A we did no to look Back Quot she said. A we just started running and we just kept running.�?�. A we just heard a big explosion and everybody said a run a and we All took off a Marlene Viscus said. The Plant about 15 Miles East of Houston was shut Down Friday. The Plant at Channelview has been in operation since 1977 and was acquired by Arco three years later. It annually produces 560 million pounds of propylene oxide a substance used to make foam for seat cushions and bedding and used in cleaning compounds according to a company brochure distributed to reporters at the scene. In addition the Plant annually makes 1.3 billion pounds of Styrene Monomer which is used for insulation foam drinking cups packaging materials and a variety of automotive items and 1.7 billion pounds of Methyl tertiary butyl Ether a High octane blending component used As a replacement for Lead in motor vehicle fuel. Stateside2 Continental flights aborted because of engine problems Denver apr two Continental airlines jets aborted takeoffs within an hour of each other because of engine trouble an airline spokesman said. A Continental Airbus a300 in route to Houston aborted a Takeoff from Stapleton International Airport after an engine caught fire spokesman Flo Temes said. All 207 passengers and 10 Crew members escaped injury. An hour later at the same Denver Airport a Continental flight to los Angeles with 146 people on Board aborted a Takeoff because an engine overheated the airline said. The fire in the left engine of the twin engine Airbus forced the Pilot to slam the brakes on flight 1232 less than 100 Yards before the end of the runway the Houston bound passengers said. The passengers who were evacuated after the aircraft blew All eight tires praised the Pilot whose name was not released by  of bombs guns hold up 6 airline flights new York apr a cargo inspector at John f. Kennedy International Airport spotted a Cache of bombs and guns before they were loaded onto a plane but the weapons turned out to be fake officials said. The decoys supplied by the Federal aviation administration Are used by pan american airlines to train baggage inspectors to detect the real thing. The airline delayed six flights for up to 20 minutes because of the scare said pan am spokeswoman Pamela Hanlon. The inspector was checking the cargo for right 403 to Lorida when he spotted suspicious items in two boxes. It was a mistake not to notify the baggage inspector that the items were being shipped Hanlon said but a it does show that the screening device and the screening procedure Are  visitors fuming Over anti smoking hosts Seattle apr soviet visitors who Are used to lighting up anytime and anyplace Are irritated by the anti smoking restrictions imposed by their . Hosts. A americans Are like children Quot one visiting soviet told friends after she spent most of a recent party alone on a porch designated for smoking by her Seattle hosts. Quot they Are told not to smoke so they done to  the cultural difference has become easily apparent during orientation sessions for participants in rotary International a Goodwill Exchange Quot Home stay program which links soviet visitors with Seattle families. One recent study showed the number of men who smoke ranges from 49 percent in Moscow to 65 percent in the City of Baku in the Southern tip of the country near  and Young women also have High smoking rates. The study by the user. Research Center for preventive Medicine showed 37.4 percent of women smoke five to 10 cigarettes a Day beginning at age 15 to 18