NEW YORK - Staff at the News Corp. headquarters here including Fox News television were evacuated Monday after a chemical blast injured one person, reporters said, stressing it was not an attack.
"This was a small explosion, some kind of mixture between oxidizers and an acid. We are trying to figure out what caused the explosion," anchorwoman Harris Faulkner said.
"This happened on the 45th floor, that contains all of the mechanicals for all of our building. Heating, cooling, utilities. No offices are on the floor, but there were a few people there and they are evacuating them."
An inspector with the Department of Environemental Protection was slightly injured in the blast suffering cuts to his face and head, she added.
Fire trucks gathered outside the building during the incident as Fox News carried on with its regular live programming.
The New York Fire Department said floors 42 to 45 had been evacuated as a precaution in the Sixth Avenue building which houses Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and Fox News Channel.
jkb/lt
12/17/2007 17:26 GMT