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Tennessee investigating plastics factory after workers trapped by Hurricane Helene floods died or went missing

Surviving employees alleged Impact Plastics told them to be at work and released them too late to escape floodwaters; the company has said it did not threaten to fire anyone.

"At the request of 1st Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney, TBI agents are investigating allegations involving Impact Plastics," Leslie Earhart, the bureau's spokesperson, said in a statement to NBC News. Impact Plastics Inc. surrounded by mud and debris in Erwin, Tenn., on Tuesday.Brianna Paciorka / News Sentinel / USA Today NetworkBertha Mendoza, 56, was among workers who were trapped. Her son, Guillermo Mendoza, confirmed to NBC News that she had died when she was swept from the flatbed of a truck of a company next door to the plastics factory that had come to rescue her.

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