Drug plant explosion leaves worker missing at destroyed site

NEWBURYPORT, Mass. (AP) — A U.S. senator is calling for accountability after an explosion at a pharmaceutical plant in Massachusetts left one worker missing and sent four people to the hospital Thursday. The explosion happened around 1 a.m. at the Sequens/PCI Synthesis plant in Newburyport. Video footage showed most of the roof torn off the building. The company says the four workers were were released from the hospital uninjured. It isn’t yet known what caused the explosion, but the company has been cited with previous safety violations. U.S. Sen. Edward Markey says Thursday’s explosion is the third accident at the plant in recent years and he called on company officials and federal regulators to explain why.