A second person died after an explosion tore through a Pennsylvania steel plant on Monday, local officials have confirmed.
The body was discovered after a search operation which stretched into the evening at the US Steel Clairton site outside Pittsburgh.
Local police earlier confirmed that one other person had died and 10 others were injured in a large explosion which destroyed part of the plant.
An order instructing residents within a one-mile radius of the site to keep their windows and doors closed over air pollution fears triggered by the resulting fire was lifted on Monday evening. The cause of the blast is yet to be confirmed and an investigation is under way.
Five of those injured are in a critical but stable condition, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS, while the rest have been released from hospital. No other workers are missing.
The plant is the largest coking operation in North America, and is located about 15 miles (24km) south of Pittsburgh.
One of the men killed has been identified by his family as 39-year-old Timothy Quinn, a CBS affiliate reported. His sister Trisha told reporters he was a father of three from Fitz Henry in nearby Westmoreland County.
The second person killed has not been publicly identified.
Earlier, Governor Josh Shapiro posted on social media that the state’s emergency management services and police had been deployed to the plant.
Shortly after the explosion, US Senator John Fetterman wrote on X that he was at the scene and witnessed “an active search and rescue underway.”
The plant is a major producer of coke, a coal-based fuel used in the production of steel. About 1,300 employees work at the facility, according to US Steel.
David B Burritt, President and CEO of US Steel, said in a statement that the company was “working closely with relevant authorities to investigate the cause of the incident”.
He later told reporters at the press conference that the plant was “stable” but “it is still an active investigation.”
“It’s just a sad day for Clairton,” Mayor Richard Lattanzi told the BBC’s US news partner, CBS.
Clairton Coke Works has been dogged by pollution concerns throughout its history and has had to pay millions of dollars in fines, penalties, and settlements in recent years.
The plant’s owner, US Steel, was fined nearly $2m (£1.5m) last year by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) for processing and equipment issues with its coking ovens.
The ACHD also fined US Steel $2.2m in 2023 for exceeding Pennsylvania’s standards on hydrogen sulphide emissions from the Clairton plant, and ordered them to provide officials with a plan to comply with state standards.
In 2022, Pennsylvania health officials fined US Steel $4.7m after it found the plant was not using a pollution control device for its coke pushing.
By BBC News
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