ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) – An explosion on Wednesday rocked a pork processing plant being built on the city’s south side, killing one person and injuring 14.
The apparent natural gas explosion may have been sparked by a welding torch, police said. The blast ripped a 150-foot hole in the building’s roof.
Rescuers were still conducting a search but believed they had accounted for all the workers at the Triumph Foods plant, Police Chief Mike Hirter said.
The St. Joseph News-Press said a witness saw a fireball exploding through the plant’s roof.
The factory, the largest development in the city in decades, had been expected to open this fall, employing 1,000 to 1,500 workers.
St. Joseph is about 60 miles north of Kansas City.
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