5 hospitalized after cleaning product spill at Tyson plant

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (AP) — Several employees have been sent to a hospital after a cleaning agent was spilled at a Tyson Foods poultry plant in northwest Arkansas.

A Tyson spokesman said five employees were sent to the hospital to be evaluated on Tuesday morning after the incident outside its plant in Springdale, about 144 miles (232 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock.

Captain Matt Bagley with Springdale Fire Department said the spill had been contained by the time firefighters arrived and no chemicals were released into the atmosphere or groundwater. Tyson did not immediately say what the cleaning agent was, and Bagley said the amount spilled was small.

Bagley said none of the employees had life-threatening injuries. Tyson said about 1,200 employees work at the poultry plant.