The American explosion of steel factories in Pennsylvania kills 1, injury 10

An explosion killed one person and injured 10 others at the Clairton US factory outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday.

A major research and rescue operation continued in the evening, with a person always taken into account and who would be under the rubble.

Officials have temporarily asked residents within a radius of a site mile to keep their windows and their doors closed, on the fears that the fire caused by the explosion could release harmful substances in the air.

The cause of the explosion has not yet been confirmed and an investigation is underway.

The factory is the largest coke operation in North America and is located about 15 miles (24 km) south of Pittsburgh.

The man killed was identified by his family as Timothy Quinn, 39, a subsidiary of the American partner of the BBC, reported CBS. His sister Trisha told journalists that he was the father of three children of Fitz Henry in the neighboring county of Westmoreland.

Earlier, Governor Josh Shapiro posted on social networks that state emergency management services and police had been deployed in the factory.

Shortly after the explosion, American senator John Fetterman wrote on X that he was on the scene and witnessed “an active research and rescue”.

The factory is a large coke producer, a charcoal fuel used in steel production. According to US Steel, around 1,300 employees work in the establishment.

David B Burritt, president and chief executive officer of the US Steel, said in a statement that the company “worked closely with the relevant authorities to investigate the cause of the incident”.

He later told journalists of the press conference that the factory was “stable” but “it is still an active investigation”.

“It’s just a sad day for Clairton,” said Mayor Richard Lattanzi to the BBC news partner, CBS.

Clearton Coke Works has been hampered by pollution problems throughout its history and had to pay millions of dollars in fines, penalties and colonies in recent years.

The owner of the factory, US Steel, was sentenced to a fine of nearly $ 2 million (1.5 million pounds sterling) last year by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) for processing and equipment problems with its Coking ovens.

The ACHD also inflicted a fine on US Steel $ 2.2 million in 2023 for exceeding Pennsylvania standards on hydrogen sulfide emissions from the Clairton factory, and ordered them to provide managers with a plan to comply with state standards.

In 2022, Pennsylvania health officials inflicted a fine of $ 4.7 million after having noticed that the factory did not use a pollution control device for its coke thrust.