THREE DEAD, THREE MISSING IN ELEVATOR EXPLOSION.

Corpus Christi, Texas (AP) -- Bulldozers and a huge crane began removing massive chunks of concrete and twisted metal today in the wake of a grain elevator explosion which killed 3, injured 32 and left 3 persons missing.
The Tuesday afternoon explosion and fires ripped the top off several silos at the Corpus Christi Public Grain Elevator at the city's seaport, on Texas' middle Gulf coast.
Acting Fire Chief E. E. Irwin said today several small fires still were burning on the catwalk of the elevator tower and also in the damaged silos, which hold the grain.
However, he said, "We think the fires are mainly on the roof sections and on the conveyor belt. As far as we know the grain that is still down in the silos is OK."
Irwin said many of the damaged silos were empty or half full when the explosion occurred.
Traffic was normal on the Corpus Christi ship channel.
Eight trucks hauled in parts of a crane about dawn and its assembly took about a half day.
Irwin said it would be used to fight the fires as well as move debris in the search for the missing persons.
"As soon as we get the crane going, we can put some of our people in the basket and raise them to where these fires are still burning," Irwin said.
"That's the only way we'll get them out."
"That structure (elevator) just can't hold people. There are no floors left."
He said 50 firefighters kept watch on the smoldering fire overnight to prevent any other explosions, which was caused by an accumulation of grain dust, authorities said.
Shortly after dawn, fresh crews and about 20 employees arrived to begin sifting through the debris, clearing away huge chunks of concrete, mangled metal supports, glass and rubbish lying around the area.
One of the missing was a guard, an elevator spokesman said. He arrived about 10 minutes before the blast. One of his first duties was to check the controls and safety equipment on the basement level. It is thought the blast originated here.
Eighteen of the injured remained in Memorial Hospital today, said spokeswoman Kay White. Six were in critical condition, one in poor condition, and 11 in fair condition. Seven of the victims were in the burn unit, she added.
She said 12 others had been treated and released.
Spokesman Vince Hefley of Spohn Hospital said two people remained hospitalized there today.
MANUEL DE LOS SANTOS was in critical but stable condition with head, neck and abdomen injuries and burns; and JESUS LOPEZ was in good condition after surgery for a compound arm fracture and he also had burns.
The force of the explosion tore gaping hopes in 10-story-high grain silos, hurled glass and huge chunks of concrete and left mangled sections of the elevator walls dangling from twisted girders and reinforcement rods. One official estimated the damage at $30 million.
Some of the bleeding and burned casualties stumbled out of the rubble, others had to be dug out from beneath the debris by rescue workers. An emergency medical technician, who asked not to be identified, said there were bodies laying all over the ground.
"It looked like a 'Nam clearing station," he said.
"Nobody had time to scream."
Flames ignited by the blast and fanned by 35 mph winds sent thick, black clouds of smoke billowing 500 feet into the air and troubled firefighters who warned bystanders about the possibility of additional explosions.
The fire still was burning early today, although firefighters said they had isolated the flames to one section of the silos. Acting Fire Chief E. E. Irwin said the fire would be allowed to burn itself out.
City Manager Marvin Townsend said the explosion was triggered by an accumulation of highly flammable grain dust. But officials had not determined what sparked the blast.
"The cause will probably remain hidden in all that rubble for some time. Grain dust is very volatile, anything can ignite it," said Don Rodman, a public affairs officer for the port of Corpus Christi.
The explosion came during a shift change and Rodman said officials estimated 50 to 51 people were near the elevator when it exploded. He said the three missing men included two elevator employees and a security guard.
An explosion at the same elevator in 1968 kille one person and caused $2 million in damage, officials said.
Tuesday's blast damaged 75 per cent of the structure built in 1952-53 and would cause an estimated $30 million to repair, said engineering director Nolan Rhodes.
"It will probably have to be torn down and rebuilt
it is that extensively fractured," said Rodman.
He said $3 million to $4 million had been spent in the last three years to modify and improve the dust collection and emmission control mechanisms. The facility had added new safety equipment as late as March of 1980.
"Everything was working the way it was supposed to be. Everything seemed to be okay," said Rodman, who added that officials were at a loss to explain the explosion.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Reagan Brown said in Austin that the elevator, bonded under the Texas Department of Agriculture, contained six million bushels of grain.
He said the elevator carried $70 million in insurance and bonds.
"We think there will be no loss to the farmers," who had grain in the elevator, said Brown.
Labor foreman W. M. Jenkins said workers were stacking grain and unloading railroad cars "when there was a rumbling like thunder then boom -- there it was." He said he was knocked down by the force of the blast.
"The top of the silos just went off, they started flying everywhere. They (the blasts) shot holes through the main building and then white smoke came out the top and mushroomed like an atomic bomb explosion," said Bob McKinney, a construction worker on a job near the elevator.
"It looked like a huge sledgehammer had hit it and took of the tops of about 10 silos," said John Van Meter, who saw the blasts from about 400 yards away. "People were running around going nuts and it looked like cement was falling."
Navy helicopter crews hovered over the waterfront and coastal marshes, searching in vain for the three missing men. Rescue workers also trudged through weeded areas near the rows of shattered grain silos in an unsuccessful hunt for the missing.
Nueces County Medical Investigator Bill Burch identified the dead as ALFREDO CANALES, 51;
R. W. PIERCE, 45, and JOSE VALDEZ, 32, all of Corpus Christi.

The Del Rio News-Herald Texas 1981-04-08

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TWO STILL MISSING IN GRAIN BLASTS.

Corpus Christi, Texas (UPI) -- Searchers dug through a shattered grain elevator complex for two men still missing in a series of unexplained explosions that killed at least four people and injured 33 others.
Officials admitted the cause of the Tuesday blasts at the Producers Grain Co-Op of Corpus Christi facility might never be determined and total damage and lost revenues might exceed $130 million.
Firefighters in a cherry-picker spotted the fourth body late Wednesday on a catwalk suspended more than 60 feet in the air. The victim, identified as PEDRO DELGADILLO, 56, was burned beyond recognition from the blast.
RAMON GARCIA, 43, and GILBERT GARCIA, 19, both of Corpus Christi were unaccounted for in the explosions, which damaged up to 75 per cent of the sprawling grain elevator complex on the Corpus Christi waterfront.
One survivor says he is hesitant to return to work in a grain storage facility again.
"RIght at this minute, I'm not too fond of the idea."
JUDD SCOTT, a federal commodities technician, said. "It's too much hurt, pain and death for what little pay we get."
SCOTT, 25, of Corpus Christi, was one of seven federal grain inspectors injured in the blasts and he was hospitalized with burns and a fractured skull.
Port Authority engineering officials said they had hired outside experts to investigate the blasts but
"we're not positive they'll ever come up with a cause."
The comment contradicted earlier speculation by fire and port officials that a spark from some type of machinery caused the blasts.
A special four-man team from the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has begun in independent investigation of the elevator blast, said Karen Warlick, a U.S. Grain Inspection Service spokeswoman.
Federal Occupational and Safety Administration officials said they could not conduct an investigation into the blast unless specifically requested by Port Authority officials. An OSHA spokesman said the federal safety agency did not have jurisdiction over most public facilities, only private work places.
The port's engineering director, Nolan Rhodes, said he would "welcome" an OSHA investigation, but would not ask OSHA to intervene.
Nueces County officials said farmers would not be able to unload their sorghum crops at the elevator and the expected revenue loss would exceed $100 million. Actural physical plant loss would exceed $30 million, officials said.
Officials said the facility was insured, which would cover all but about $100,000 of the damage because of a deductibility clause in the insurance contract.

Logansport Pharos-Tribune Indiana 1981-04-09
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!