News
All the latest updates from Atex Explosion Hazards.
Incomes and lives are the high cost of Industrial explosions:
CANADA
The Babine sawmill in Burns Lake was destroyed Friday night, leaving the thousands of people it employed wondering where their next pay cheque will come from.
Nineteen people were hurt in the blast - some seriously - and two are missing and presumed dead. Some workers have reported that they smelled gas just before the explosion, but nothing relating to a possible cause has yet been confirmed.
Steve Zika, C-E-O of Hampton Affiliates has said, that, "with damage estimates ranging as high as 100 million dollars", he's not sure if rebuilding the US owned company is even possible.
John Ruffell, who has worked at the plant for more than 30 years, says he doesn't know what he'll do next.
UPDATE:
Two weeks after the devastation of the Burns Lake sawmill explosion, relatives for two of the missing workers are demanding more be done to find their loved ones.
The two men, named locally as Carl Charlie and Robert Luggi, remain unaccounted for after the explosion ripped through the sawmill.
The mill was reduced to a pile of rubble by the explosion and the site remains blocked by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). As of Sunday evening, rescue crews had been unable to enter the building. The family have expressed their frustration at the time its taking for the investigation and clear-out to take place. However, in a response the RCMP have stated that, "this is going to be a very slow process".
