(Reuters) - A truck that was transporting Takata Corp (T:7312) air bag inflators and propellant material at the center of a global recall exploded in Texas last week, killing one woman and injuring four other people, the auto parts supplier said on Monday.
Takata said a truck, operated by a subcontractor, was traveling to a Takata warehouse in Eagle Pass, Texas, early on Aug. 22 when an accident occurred.
The driver of the tractor-trailer "failed to negotiate" a curve on a highway and crashed near a house, according to a preliminary statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
"The trailer (carrying air bag detonators and blasting agent) exploded and engulfed in flames, causing fire to the home and a passing vehicle."
The Texas DPS said 67-year-old woman, Lucila Robles, was killed. Local media reports said she was inside the house near where the explosion took place. The Texas DPS said the house caught fire after the accident.
The Texas DPS was continuing to investigate the incident, the statement said.
A Takata spokesman in the United States said that the company had reported the incident to U.S. safety regulators and was cooperating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A Takata spokesman in Tokyo said earlier on Monday the air bag inflators and propellant in the truck contain ammonium nitrate, a volatile chemical compound. The air bags have in the past exploded and been linked to the deaths of at least 14 people, triggering the biggest recall in the global auto industry.
The force of the explosion damaged about 10 nearby homes, breaking windows and dislodging doors from their hinges, local media reports said, with rubble and truck parts found almost a mile away from the site of the blast near Quemado, Texas.
Local media reports said the driver of the truck was a 20-year-old man who, along with a passenger, were able to escape from the truck before it exploded.
A two-day search was conducted to find Robles, but the search was called off after she was identified by dental records, local media reported.
More than 100 million vehicles worldwide have been slated for recall to replace Takata inflators, which in addition to the deaths, are linked to more than 150 injuries, mostly in the United States and involving Honda Motor Co Ltd (T:7267) cars.
Prolonged exposure of the defective Takata inflators to hot and humid conditions has been found to cause air bags to explode with excessive force, spraying shrapnel into passenger compartments.