Six Dead in Ga. Explosion

Investigators scour subterranean tunnels
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 8, 2008 12:13 PM CST

Investigators have found six bodies within the Georgia sugar refinery that exploded last night, CNN reports. Six people had been missing since the blast, which injured more than 60. The bodies were found in the tunnels beneath the refinery, which hold waist-high water. The victims likely ran into the tunnels to take shelter from the flames, the state fire commissioner said.

The likely cause of the catastrophe was a rare sugar powder mishap, plant officials say. The spectacular explosion, in a Savannah suburb, shook houses in South Carolina and shot a fireball into the air “five or six times higher than the tallest tree,” a police spokesman said. “It was like walking into hell,” said one Red Cross volunteer. (More Georgia stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X