Several people have been killed, and others suffered horrific burns after an implosion at a chemical plant in Washington state. The blast was heard across Longview, about 50 miles north of Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday morning at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company. Officials say an 80,000-gallon vat that was about 60% full caused the devastation around 7:18 a.m., inflicting chemical burns and other critical injuries on several people. Officials later said the vat contained “white liquor,” a chemical combination of sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfide, and disodium carbonate.