Boiler explosion kills 3, hurts 4
1-ton iron device blows through roof, hits nearby business
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An explosion launched a van-sized boiler through the roof of a St. Louis box company and slammed much of it down onto a laundry business across the street Monday, killing three people and injuring four others, authorities said.
One person died in the blast about 8 a.m. at the Loy-Lange Box Co. and two others were killed when a large piece of the boiler crashed into the Faultless Healthcare Linen building’s office area, Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said.
Investigators were trying to pinpoint what caused the cast iron boiler — estimated to weigh 1 to 1.5 tons — to explode, Jenkerson said.
Two injured victims were in critical condition, and one was undergoing surgery, Jenkerson said. The injured include a linen company worker who was found pinned beneath the boiler, which Jenkerson said was roughly 4 feet in diameter and 10 feet long. The boiler was used to produce steam to power the box company’s equipment.
The boiler was still hot when rescuers arrived, the fire chief said, noting that the equipment traveled up to 500 feet.
Though none of the victims’ names has been released, Faultless Healthcare Linen’s chief operating officer, Mark Spence, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the three victims there were new hires who were filling out paperwork when the boiler came crashing down on them, killing two and injuring the third.