Three missing and four injured in the explosion of a plant that rocked the ground in Illinois



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Three workers are missing and four others were injured after the explosion of a manufacturing facility near Chicago late Friday.

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The explosion took place at AB Specialty Silicones, a plant that produces raw materials for silicone manufacturing in Waukegan, Illinois at approximately 9:30 am local time. The explosion caused a huge fire and shaking houses for miles, even across the border, in southern Wisconsin.

Firefighters arrived and immediately began treating four workers at the scene for unspecified injuries. The four men were taken to local hospitals, two to Advocate Condell and two to Vista East. Two other people at the scene refused medical treatment.

Workers told the fire department that nine people were in the building at the time of the explosion and that three of them were still missing at 5 pm local time, according to the fire marshal. Waukegan, Steven Lenzi.

Structural collapse teams were searching for the location of the missing workers.

County teams were called for help because of the size of the fire and hazardous materials. Mr. Lenzi said that more than 100 staff members were involved in extinguishing the fire and securing the premises.

Lenzi said 90 percent of the main building had been destroyed and damage estimated at $ 1 million had been caused to five buildings on the site. All buildings were related to manufacturing.

The explosion damaged no house and no civilian was injured.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of everyone involved in this horrific incident," Lenzi said in a statement. "Our staff worked tirelessly all night to control this scene with the help of many neighboring agencies.This was a very large team effort."

The Lake County Sheriff's Office told the residents that he was aware of the "very loud explosion sound" and "earthquake", but referred the questions to the service department. Waukegan fire.

Lenzi said Saturday morning that it was too early to speculate on what could have caused the blast.

Waukegan is about 10 miles south of the Wisconsin-Illinois border and 45 miles north of downtown Chicago.

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