LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The President a The Kentucky plant that exploded earlier this week said the company was responsible for the accident and would pay damages to residents affected by the explosion.

“First of all, we are devastated by the accident that occurred on Tuesday,” Ann Leonard, president of Givaudan Sense Color, said during a conference call with reporters Friday afternoon. “We know this event was felt deeply throughout the community, and believe me, we feel it too.”

The afternoon blast killed two workers and injured 11 other employees. Dozens of homes around the east Louisville plant had their windows shattered, and the impact from the explosion knocked pictures off walls and cracked drywall in some homes.

A house directly opposite the factory had a two-story high piece of metal sitting next to it.

Leonard said “absolutely we are responsible” for the explosion and pledged to pay damages to the neighbors.

No cause of the explosion has been identified. Leonard said that will be determined by investigators, who are now combing the scene where the plant once stood.

She said Friday that she was not aware of any equipment failure before the explosion.

Some neighbors said the company should be relocated, but Leonard said Friday that Givaudan is currently focused on the well-being of its employees and the surrounding community. Louisville’s mayor also said there might be a better location in the city for the plant, which also had a deadly explosion in 2003.

“We’ve been part of this community for more than 70 years,” Leonard said. “We love Louisville and we’d like to be committed to that. But again, it’s just very, very early stages.”

Leonard said the plant has about 55 workers and they will continue to be paid. The company has set up a crisis line for people to call and report damage, she said.

Federal, state and local investigators are looking into the explosion.

The plant made caramel coloring for the food industry by heating sugar and water and adding chemicals such as aqueous ammonia to some products, according to documents filed with the city of Louisville.