<br>Explosion at Northwood plant injures nine

9/7/2010

An explosion Tuesday morning at an automotive supplier plant in Northwood injured nine people, authorities said.

The explosion occurred about 7:15 a.m. in a hydraulic line at Faurecia Interior Systems Inc., 6307 Fairfield Dr., Northwood police said. The victims, whose names were not released, were taken to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center with minor injuries.

Katie Hepler, a spokesman for Chrysler, said the Toledo North Assembly Plant, which makes the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro SUVs, had enough parts Tuesday afternoon to keep operating. Earlier Tuesday officials thought they may have to shut down the plant early because of a parts shortage caused by the explosion. The plant has about 950 workers.

The Faurecia plant manufactures interior door panels for the Liberty and Nitro.

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, a spokesman for Faurecia said.