Massive rescue effort led to pulling workers from debris of Pennsylvania steel plant explosion

CLAIRTON, Pa. (AP) — Moments after an explosion erupted at a U.S. Steel plant in Pennsylvania, company firefighters, local responders and employees raced in to rescue people from the smoldering wreckage. But word spread that some were trapped in the sprawling facility, and the walls were too unstable to safely bring them out.

A crew from Pittsburgh-based Pennsylvania Urban Search & Rescue Strike Team One was called in to assist, said Matthew Brown, chief of Allegheny County Emergency Services. The team was able to stabilize a wall at the plant outside Pittsburgh and used an advanced camera to detect the trapped workers’ locations. Crew members pulled away the rubble and freed one worker, who was whisked to a hospital where he remains. A second worker was later found dead.

Monday's ex