Five people died and 20 have been hospitalized with severe burns, 17 of them in medically induced coma after the explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar refinery, near Savannah, Georgia, which occurred Thursday night, the Associated Press reports.

The twenty workers were hospitalized Saturday in Augusta, Georgia, and seventeen of them are in critical condition, said Dr. Fred Mullins, medical director of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center.

Some of the worker suffered severe burns to their faces and extremities. Dr. Mullins also made an appeal for blood donations.

“Prayers and donating blood are probably the most important,” he said.

The burn victims range in age from 18 to 50. More than 10 other patients had all been discharged by Saturday.

According to Beth Frits, burn center spokeswoman, at the time of the blast, there were approximately 100 workers in the refinery, and more than 40 were not hurt, CNN.com notes.

Three men are still missing, while the searches continue. Fire Chief Greg Long said that the chances to find the three missing men alive are very slim, but “We operate on the policy that everyone is alive until we get to them,” he said. The identities of the dead and missing men have not been released.

The investigation into the cause of the blast and fire that caught up the refinery was begun Saturday, when investigators with the Georgia Fire Marshal's office, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board arrived at the scene.

John Sheptor, Imperial President and CEO, said that sugar dust had been stored in silo where refined sugar had also been stored before packaging. Sugar dust can ignite like gunpowder when it is too dry and also develops a static electric charge.

Company officials have not made any statements related to the reopening of the plant. Sheptor said the company will pay the employees for the time being, but he would not mention for how long, the Associated Press reported.