ST. LOUIS — Three people were killed and four others injured Monday when an explosion launched a boiler the size of a van through the roof a St. Louis box company and slammed much of it down hundreds of feet away in a neighboring laundry business, the fire chief said.
One person died in the blast about 8 a.m. at the Loy-Lange Box Co. and two more were killed when a large piece of the boiler crashed into the Faultless Healthcare Linen building’s office area a block away, Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said.
Investigators were trying to pinpoint what caused the cast iron boiler estimated to weigh about a ton and a half to explode at the building in a largely industrial area of south St. Louis, Jenkerson said. But the incident is being treated as an accident.
Two of four survivors are critically injured, including a linen company worker who was found pinned beneath the boiler, which was 4 feet in diameter and 10 feet long.
The boiler was still hot when rescuers arrived and it had traveled up to 500 feet.
None of the victims’ names have been released.
ASSOCIATED PRESS