DECATUR, ILLINOIS, US — Several employees were injured in an explosion at an ADM processing plant Sunday night, Sept. 10, in Decatur, Illinois, the company said.

ADM said the explosion happened at 7:11 p.m. at the East Plant within its processing complex on the northeast side of the city of about 70,000 in central Illinois.

It was unclear what caused the blast, and the extent of the injuries was unknown. Reuters reported eight people were hurt, citing the Decatur Fire Department, which added that the fire was under control early Monday morning.

"The main fire was extinguished overnight, and we are continuing to closely monitor and assess the extent of the damage to the complex as we investigate the cause of the incident," ADM said. "The East Plant, which produces soybean oil and white flake for soybean protein production, is down at this time, and the adjacent corn processing plant is also temporarily down until we can safely resume operations.

"Five employees remain in the hospital receiving treatment for their injuries, and our priority is providing our injured colleagues and their families support."

This is the third incident this year reported at the Decatur complex, which houses a soybean crushing plant and one of the largest corn wet mills in the world for Chicago, Illinois, US-based ADM. 

In April, three employees were injured in an explosion at one of the grain elevators at the soybean processing facility at ADM’s West Plant.

Last month, two Decatur firefighters were hurt while battling a third-alarm fire in the feed house of the company’s corn processing plant.

Decatur, about 180 miles (290 kilometers) south of Chicago, is home to ADM’s North American headquarters and employs some 4,000 workers locally, about 10% of its global workforce.