Federal investigators today began investigations into explosions Tuesday that ripped through grain elevators in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Bellwood, Neb., killing at least four workers and injuring 35 others.
A rolling series of explosions, apparently triggered by sparks, devastated a 14-story dockside grain elevator in Corpus Christi, killing three workers and injuring 33 others. Three workers were listed today as missing in the rubble of the massive complex, which consisted of 153 grain silos.
A few hours later, a farmer's co-op elevator in Bellwood was ripped by an explosion, killing one man, who was trapped for five hours in a 10-foot pit. Two other workers were critically injured.
The coincidence of the two explosions on the same day was reminiscent of a week in December 1977, when elevator explosions in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas killed 56 people. During this century, there have been more than 1,100 grain-related explosions, killing almost 500 people.
Agricultural officials say that under the right conditions, an ounce of grain dust can be more explosive than an ounce of dynamite.
The cause of the Nebraska blast was unknown, but witnesses said it apparently was triggered somewhere in the south end near the unloading truck. The explosion shook the entire elevator, ripped out one wall and tore off the headhouse, a structure on the top of the elevator. Rubble was spread for blocks.
Texas officials said the grain blast at the Producers Grain Co-op of Corpus Christi might have been set off by sparks from machinery.
Don Rodman, director of public affairs for the Port of Corpus Christi, said the initial blast apparently occurred in a ground-level portion of the elevator alongside a channel at the Gulf of Mexico port.
An official of the Federal Grain Inspection Service said the facility was one of the 'cleanest' in the nation and said the explosions could have been much worse if it had not been so well-maintained.
Officials said 54 grain silos sustained major damage and damage to the complex was estimated at $30 million. Huge chunks of concrete were thrown the length of a football field, and one giant piece was half embedded in a blacktop road.
Fires, largely fed by plastic grain bags, burned into the night.
