By KWMU
St. Louis – Authorities are investigating a chemical spill in East St. Louis Saturday that left as many as seven injured.
Officials at Ro-Corp Inc. told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Sunday that earlier reports of two deaths were incorrect. No one died in the spill, they told the paper.
Two hospital emergency rooms were also closed for fear of contamination.
Authorities say someone at an East St. Louis chemical plant dropped a drum of nitroaniline.
The white powdery substance has many industrial uses, but in large concentrations it can cause severe breathing problems and even death.
Those exposed to the chemical went to several emergency rooms in the area. The emergency rooms at DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton and St. Anthony's Medical Center in south St. Louis County were put on lockdown for fear of additional contamination.
Those at the hospitals were decontaminated as a precaution, but it appears no one else was affected because of their proximity to the victims.
Authorities in East St. Louis say the FBI is among the many agencies investigating this incident, but terrorism is not suspected.