Explosions at US Steel plant in Pennsylvania kill 2, injure 10
Two people, including missing employee, confirmed dead after multiple blasts at the Clairton Coke Works near Pittsburgh
Multiple explosions on Monday at a US Steel plant near Pittsburgh killed two people and injured 10 others, according to the company and local authorities.
The blasts at the Clairton Coke Works - part of a sprawling industrial complex along the Monongahela River - took place just before 11am ET. Firefighters battled flames and heavy smoke that billowed out of the plant, which is owned by US Steel, a subsidiary of Nippon Steel.
Initially, two people were reported missing. One person was found and transported to a local hospital, said Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent Victor Joseph at an afternoon briefing.
The other individual, who had been missing, was found deceased following an extensive search and rescue effort, US Steel said in an emailed statement to Reuters late on Monday.
There was no word yet on a possible cause of the explosion.
The probe into the explosion would be “a time-consuming technical investigation,” Joseph said.