Two dead in fireworks plant explosion near Montreal

(CNN) -- Two people died Thursday when a fireworks plant exploded near Montreal, federal police in Quebec said.

Residents and businesses within a kilometer of the BEM plant were evacuated as a precaution, Quebec Provincial Police Sgt. Joyce Kemp said.

Ken McDonald said he was at his daughter's school, less than a mile south of the factory, when he heard a loud boom and rumble. He and his neighbors were among the evacuees.

McDonald shot video showing a thick plume of black smoke belching from the roof of the one-story plant.

The plant is located in the town of Coteau-du-Lac, nearly an hour's drive southwest of Montreal.