ReutersTwo people were killed and at least one injured on Monday in an explosion at a metal recycling plant in southern Illinois possibly caused by munitions, according to police and local media.
The blast happened at Totall Metal Recycling in Granite City, about 8 miles northeast of St. Louis.
“We believe there was some type of mortar round that went off,” Granite City Police Major Jeff Connor told Fox television affiliate KTVI.
Connor told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the bodies of the two who died were still at the scene, and that authorities could not approach the victims for fear additional mortars could explode.
“We can confirm that it is a fatal incident, but we are not confirming any numbers or anything at this point,” Madison County Chief Deputy Coroner Roger Smith said.
Smith said a coroner’s office investigator was at the recycling center.
“They are still in the process of rendering the scene safe,” Smith said.
The Illinois State Police bomb squad was at the scene, assisted by a small team from Scott Air Force Base in nearby Belleville, Illinois, according to a spokeswoman at the base.
Totall Metal Recycling employs more than 160 people and accepts for recycling various metals and electronics, according to its website. A spokesperson for the company was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski in Chicago and David Bailey in Minneapolis; Editing byJim Loney)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/25/us-usa-illinois-explosion-idUSKBN0GP1CU20140825
Jeepers! Maybe it’s the dreaded IS beginning it’s terror attacks?! HAHA Is nothing sacred? Perhaps Al Gore should be appointed DHS recycling czar to keep IS from attacking recycling facilities?
have they even concerted a gas cylinder? ..like oxygen cyl or other volatile gas cyl under pressure?
those gas bottles can be pretty nasty.. once worked on an incinerator that was blown up by negligence of the loader ,, he didnt check every box of medical grade waste and one had a small oxygen bottle in there..well BLAMO! and a high degree of destruction to the unit..lucky no one was killed
bet thats what this was