Several Georgia-based groups are coming together to collect donations to assist the families of six employees who died in a Gainesville poultry plant after a nitrogen leak. The Northeast Georgia Latino Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Poultry Federation, USPOULTRY Foundation, and Foundation Food Group Inc. are raising money for the families of Saulo Suarez-Bernal, Jose De-Jesus Elias-Cabrera, Corey Alan Murphy, Nelly Perez-Rafael, Victor Vellez and Edgar Vera-Garcia.

The six employees of the Foundation Food Group plant in Gainesville were killed in a nitrogen leak. According to an update from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, the plant had been experiencing unresolved operational issues on a chicken conveyor that appear to have resulted in the accidental release of liquid nitrogen in the flash freezing bath. The event occurred on Line 4, where chicken is processed, to include seasoning, cooking, freezing, and then packaging. The CSB has information that Line No. 4 was shut down the morning of the incident. The shutdown was due to operational issues on the conveyor line. Foundation Food Group maintenance personnel reported the computerized measuring system indicated a low liquid level in the immersion bath used to flash freeze the chicken products.

Anyone interested in making a donation for the families of the victims should visit the Georgia Poultry Federation’s website: https://www.gapf.org/donation/.

Source: CSB, Georgia Poultry Federation