On Jan. 28, 2021, six workers went to work at a Gainesville poultry processing facility unaware that they would not return home. Just after their shift began, a freezer at the plant malfunctioned, releasing colorless, odorless liquid nitrogen into the plant’s air, displacing the oxygen in the room.
Three of the plant’s maintenance workers entered the freezer room without precautions – never trained on the deadly effects of nitrogen exposure – and were overcome immediately. Other workers entered the room and were also overcome. The three maintenance workers and two other workers died immediately, a sixth died on the way to the hospital. At least a dozen other injured workers needed hospital care.