The owner of the Michigan e-cigarette factory where a huge explosion killed a teenager was arrested at the airport after buying a one-way ticket to Hong Kong.

• He was arrested at JFK Airport after attempting to flee to Hong Kong.
• He was charged with manslaughter after explosion killed teenager

The owner of the e-cigarette factory where a fire broke out in Michigan and killed a teenager was arrested at a New York airport as he tried to flee to Hong Kong.

Noor Noel Kestou, 31, was arrested by U.S. Customs and Port Authority of New York officials at John F. Kennedy International Airport and immediately brought back to Michigan.

The March 4 explosion initially ignited a truckload of butane, causing containers inside the plant to burst into flames and cause hundreds of small explosions.

Turner Lee Salter, 19, of Clinton Township, was fatally injured by flying debris from the explosion more than 1,000 feet away and died from his injuries at an area hospital.

Officials said Salter was standing at a car wash on 15 Mile Road when he was struck by a piece of a floating canister.

Kestow, of Commerce Township, was charged with manslaughter and arraigned.

Authorities said they received information on April 20 that Kestou was attempting to fly to Hong Kong.

“We don't know what his ultimate goal was,” Macomb County Attorney Peter Lucido told reporters.

“Was it to take his wife and child and stay abroad?” No one has a crystal ball to determine who is a flight risk.

“He is the owner of this business and was a suspect from the beginning. Anyone who runs a business and something like this happens has to be considered a suspect.”

Lucido added that based on the information and evidence in the case, the highest charge his office can bring at this time is manslaughter.

The fire and explosion occurred at a building in Clinton Township that houses an e-cigarette industry distributor called Goo, which had more than 100,000 vape pens stored on the premises.

Authorities say a truckload of butane cylinders arrived at the building within a week of the explosion, sending the cylinders flying up to 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) and that more than half of the inventory was still there when the fire started. Announced.

According to the Clinton Township Building Department, Gou Co. will receive an occupancy permit for the 26,700-square-foot (2,480-square-meter) building in September 2022 as a retail “smoking area/vaping store” selling paraphernalia for vaping products. was obtained. Said.

Clinton Township Fire Chief Tim Duncan said today that the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but investigators believe it started in the southwest corner of the building.

Kestow was released from jail after posting $500,000 bail.

Lucido added that authorities have his passport and that a condition of bail is for the defendant to wear a GPS tether.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for May 7 in Clinton Township District Court.