PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. – Crews found another body yesterday in the remnants of the sugar refinery devastated by an explosion and fire, raising the death toll to five and leaving three others missing, officials said.
The body was found near the silos used to store sugar after crews shored up the plant's wobbly remnants, said Port Wentworth Fire Chief Greg Long. Three workers and a supervisor were believed to be missing. It was not clear whether the body found was that of a worker or the supervisor.
“We operate on the policy that everyone is alive until we get to them,” Long said.
The search was expected to be suspended for the night and resume today.
Earlier yesterday, Long said firefighters had all but extinguished the fire that had raged inside the Georgia refinery since the blast, allowing teams to resume searching for the missing men.
“We have an idea of where they are,” Long said.
The chief said he thought the three workers and the supervisor – all of whom he said he knew personally – were the only people unaccounted for from Thursday's blast.
