Crews have suspended rescue efforts for three people missing since an explosion at a Kansas grain elevator that killed three workers and injured two.
Atchison City Manager Trey Cocking says the search was suspended Sunday while crews waited for more specialized equipment to help in the search at the Bartlett Grain Co. elevator.
Cocking said earlier that the company had been weighing whether it was safe to send rescue teams into the facility, which sustained significant damage in the Saturday night explosion.
The family of one of the men who is unaccounted for waited Sunday at the site for news.
Gary Keil, of Salina, said his son, 34-year-old Travis Keil is a state grain inspector missing since the explosion. He said the family is praying for his safe return.
UPDATE: Three people are dead, three unaccounted for, and more were injured after a grain elevator exploded into a huge fireball in Atchison, Kansas Saturday night.
City Manager Trey Cocking confirmed the deaths and said three others remain unaccounted for after Saturday night’s blast at the Bartlett Grain Co. elevator, which shook homes and businesses all around. Authorities also reported injuries, but were still trying to get accurate information and notify families.
Cocking said authorities planned to bring in heavy equipment to dig through the rubble Sunday.
Bartlett Grain President Bill Fellows said in a statement that 11 workers were loading a train with corn when the explosion occurred about 7 p.m. Saturday. He said several of those 11 workers escaped injury, but that there were fatalities and some injuries.
Witnesses said the fireball and blast could be seen and felt across Atchison and in neighboring Missouri. Buchanan County, Missouri authorities fielded numerous calls from alarmed citizens.
Randy Burton, who works at a Quick Stop East convenience store in Atchison about two miles from the elevator, said the explosion “shook our whole building.”
“All I saw was a flash and then the building shook really good,” Burton said. “Some things fell off our shelves.”
Fellows said Bartlett Grain workers remained at the elevator early Sunday and aiding authorities any way they could.
“The company’s concern at this point is caring for those involved and their families,” Fellows said. “We, of course, are in touch with all of the families of the Bartlett employees. We will share more information as it is discovered.”
A news release from Atchison city officials said multiple injuries were reported, but that authorities were withholding details pending notification of families.
ORIGINAL: Authorities in the northeast Kansas town of Atchison say they have been called to a grain elevator explosion, and media reports said the blast could be felt widely around the site and seen across the river in Missouri.
A spokesman for the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., said the hospital was expecting two patients from the blast, but their conditions weren’t immediately known.
An Atchison Fire Department dispatcher said several area agencies have responded to the scene at Bartlett Grain Co. along with firefighters and paramedics.
Atchison is about 50 miles northwest of Kansas City, Mo.
The St. Jospeh News-Press reported that the blast sent a fireball into the air that could be seen across the river in Buchanan County, Mo.