5 workers dead after plant fire
Thursday, 4 October 2007
GEORGETOWN (US), Oct 3 (AP): Investigators are trying to determine how five workers trapped 1,000 feet inside an empty underground water tunnel died following a chemical fire at a hydroelectric plant.
Crews who entered from the bottom of the sloping tunnel to put out the fire discovered the bodies late Tuesday, Clear Creek County undersheriff Stu Nay said.
They were among a group of nine contract maintenance workers in the tunnel when a machine used to coat the inside of the 4-foot-wide pipe with epoxy caught fire, said Xcel Energy spokeswoman Ethnie Groves. Xcel refused to release the name of the contractors' employer.
Four workers below the fire were able to scramble out of the bottom of the 4,000-foot-long tunnel. Two of the four were treated for chemical inhalation, and one was airlifted to a hospital, Groves said.
The coroner's office was working to identify the workers.
Officials initially expressed hope that the trapped workers could be saved. Groves first reported that authorities had communicated with the five by radio and that the men said they were unhurt.
Crews who entered from the bottom of the sloping tunnel to put out the fire discovered the bodies late Tuesday, Clear Creek County undersheriff Stu Nay said.
They were among a group of nine contract maintenance workers in the tunnel when a machine used to coat the inside of the 4-foot-wide pipe with epoxy caught fire, said Xcel Energy spokeswoman Ethnie Groves. Xcel refused to release the name of the contractors' employer.
Four workers below the fire were able to scramble out of the bottom of the 4,000-foot-long tunnel. Two of the four were treated for chemical inhalation, and one was airlifted to a hospital, Groves said.
The coroner's office was working to identify the workers.
Officials initially expressed hope that the trapped workers could be saved. Groves first reported that authorities had communicated with the five by radio and that the men said they were unhurt.