One person died and more than a dozen were injured in an explosion at an Ohio alloy plant Monday afternoon, authorities said.
Thirteen people were rushed to hospital, including one in critical condition, after being injured in a fire at the I. Schumann & Co. factory. in Bedford, southeast of Cleveland, Oakwood Village Fire Capt. Brian DiRocco told reporters at the scene. .
“It was a huge explosion,” he said. “We have multiple area departments assisting us and multiple area leaders assisting and helping us deal with this incident.”
Four patients were admitted to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. Two of them remained in critical condition as of Tuesday, a hospital spokesperson told HuffPost.
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The explosion appeared to destroy an entire wall of the building, smashing cars parked outside with bricks and other flying debris, photos taken during the scene show. No one was injured by the debris outside, DiRocco said.
The lone victim was identified as 46-year-old Steven Mullins by the Cuyahoga Medical Examiner’s Office. Mullins was a maintenance worker at the plant, local station WKYC reported.
There were no updates Tuesday morning on what may have caused the explosion, an Oakwood Village Fire Department representative told HuffPost.
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DiRocco said he has personally inspected the building as a fire inspector over the years and called it a “relatively safe facility.”
“It’s a very safe place, except it’s a foundry, so you’re dealing with hot molten metal, so there’s always an inherent danger,” he said Monday.
Fire officials said further updates on the incident were expected at a news conference scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.
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