1 dead, 2 unaccounted for, dozens hurt from explosion at Pennsylvania steel plant: Officials
ABC News
(PITTSBURGH) — One person has died, two are believed to be unaccounted for and dozens are hurt following an explosion at a Pennsylvania steel plant on Monday, Allegheny County police said.
The blast at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works plant in Clairton, about 15 miles outside of Pittsburgh, trapped people under rubble, prompting a rescue operation, according to Allegheny County officials.
The exact number of victims was not clear but many of the injuries are non-life-threatening, Allegheny County Emergency Services spokesperson Kasey Reigner said.
Allegheny County Director of Communications Abigail Gardner said the Health Department is on site monitoring air quality and Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration is in touch with officials.
“The scene is still active, and folks nearby should follow the direction of local authorities,” the governor said on social media. “Please join Lori and me in praying for the Clairton community.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also responding, according to a spokesman.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Michael Pappano contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Heavy rain caused significant transportation delays in the Northeast on Monday, with flash flooding submerging cars, flooding roadways and canceling flights — and more wet weather is in the forecast.
Flash flood warnings were issued in New York City; northern New Jersey; Westchester County, New York; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; and Arlington, Virginia. A rare flash flood emergency was issued in Petersburg, Virginia, where 18 inches of water was recorded in some backyards.
In Plainfield, New Jersey, two people were killed when their car was swept into Cedar Brook, city officials said. This comes days after two others were killed in severe storms in Plainfield on July 3.
“To lose four residents in such a short span of time is unimaginable,” Mayor Adrian Mapp said in a statement. “We mourn with the families, and we remain committed to doing all we can to strengthen our emergency response systems and protect our residents from future harm.”
In North Plainfield, officers waded through chest-high water to rescue about 40 people as the heavy flooding destroyed homes and cars on Monday, North Plainfield police said.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency.
In New York City, police reported flooding conditions on the Cross Bronx Expressway, while video from Manhattan showed floodwaters rushing into the 28th Street subway station
Central Park recorded its second-highest hourly rainfall total, recording 2.07 inches in one hour. This represents a 1-in-20-year flood for Central Park.
More than 2,000 flights were canceled in the U.S. on Monday. The flooding also posed major disruptions to New Jersey Transit and Metro-North train travel on Monday night.
On Tuesday, the flood threat continues for the Mid-Atlantic. A level 2 of 4 for excessive rainfall is in place from Washington, D.C., to Asheville, North Carolina.
Rainfall rates could reach 2 inches per hour as scattered storms roll through in the afternoon and evening.
Grant Gardner, a Minnesota man who left for a three-day hiking trip and was last heard from on July 29, was found dead in Bighorn National Forest in Wyoming, according to the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office. Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office
(BIG HORN COUNTY, Wyo.) — After being missing for nearly a month, a man who had left for a three-day hike in Wyoming was found dead in Bighorn National Forest, authorities said.
“While it’s not the outcome we hoped for, we are hopeful this will provide much needed peace and closure to the family,” the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Thursday.
Grant Gardner, a Minnesota man who had planned on a three-day hike “through the Misty Moon Lake area, eventually summiting Cloud Peak,” which is the highest peak within Bighorn National Forest, was last heard from on July 29, when he contacted his wife, saying he had made it to the summit, the sheriff’s office said.
Phone records revealed that he had reached the summit at Cloud Peak — which is around 13,000 feet — at approximately 7 p.m., which was concerning to officials due to the “lack of visible trails through cliffs, timer line, boulder fields and other hazards that had to be navigated after dark before reaching clear trails and safe terrain,” officials said.
Since then, officials said “there has not been any contact with Gardner.”
On Tuesday, a professional climbing team from North Carolina “summited Cloud Peak and descended to the northern route of the peak,” the sheriff’s office said. When the team was establishing a high-altitude camp for the evening, they “noticed a slight reflection a few hundred feet above them underneath a ledge,” and were “confident it was a backpack,” the sheriff’s office said.
But due to nightfall approaching, further investigation would be “too dangerous,” so the team notified the sheriff’s office via satellite, officials said.
Then on Wednesday, teams from the sheriff’s office were launched and “Grant Gardner’s remains were located near the backpack” and he was wearing “clothing that very closely matched the terrain he was climbing in,” officials said.
The body was recovered in one of the two primary search areas, “very closely matching one of the highest probability scenarios,” officials said.
“It is noteworthy that this area had been covered by air and other means, underscoring how difficult this mission has been,” the sheriff’s office said.
Bighorn National Forest is over 1 million acres, with 191,000 acres dedicated to the Cloud Peak Wilderness area, which is where Gardner is believed to have been traveling, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
While the case has been transferred to the Big Horn County Coroner’s Office to determine the time, manner and cause of death, officials said they believe Gardner “succumbed to a tragic accident as we all have surmised.”
Prior to the discovery of Gardner’s body, officials had suspended search efforts for the hiker, saying that his “most optimistic survival odds have run out.”
“I have made the heartbreaking and difficult decision to suspend active search and rescue operations for Mr. Gardner. Our teams have exhausted all resources and personnel over the last 20 days. With weather conditions and other factors updated in our search models, we have to face the reality that the most optimistic survival odds have run out,” Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn said in a statement last week.
Now, after this “dangerous” recovery, Gardner’s body will be “brought home to his family,” officials said.
(BRYAN, Texas) — The Bureau of Prisons has moved former Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell from a federal prison in Florida to a federal prison camp in Texas, officials confirmed Friday.
“We can confirm Ghislaine Maxwell is in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Bryan, Texas,” a BOP official said.
The reason for the move was not made clear. FCI Tallahassee in Florida, where Maxwell had been held, is a “low security” prison for men and women, while FPC Bryan is a “minimum security” camp just for women.
The move follows Maxwell’s two-day meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in Tallahassee, where her attorney said the two discussed “about 100 names” associated with Epstein, after the Trump administration promised to release additional information about the deceased sex offender.
The Justice Department has disclosed nothing about the information Maxwell provided in that nine-hour interview.
Her attorney had no comment about the move from one federal prison to another.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with Epstein, the former financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019.
