8 Dead In Explosion At Texas Foundry -- Blast Northeast Of Houston Blows Hole In Metal Plant Roof

HOUSTON - An explosion blew a gaping hole through the roof of a metal-fabricating plant, killing at least eight people and leaving one worker missing, a federal official said today.

The blast happened late Sunday at Wyman Gordon Forging, which employs about 1,200 people northwest of Houston in Harris County, fire and company officials said.

People were thrown as far as 100 yards outside the building, which had a 40- by 50-foot hole in its roof, said Erik Petocz, assistant chief of the Cypress-Fairbanks Volunteer Fire Department.

"It reminded me of Hollywood," said Petocz, likening the scene to a disaster movie or airplane crash. "Is this really what I'm looking at?"

He said workers were searching nearby fields for body parts and debris.

Eight people were killed, two others were hospitalized and one was missing, said Roy Piggee, assistant area director for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Houston.

Company officials didn't know what caused the blast or how many people were working in the area, said Wallace Whitney, general counsel for Wyman Gordon at North Grafton, Mass.

Plant officials were kept out by fire marshals, he said, although no fire was reported.

"That plant has an exemplary safety record," Whitney said.

Several of the dead and injured were related to other workers, said longtime plant employee G.H. Bell, who arrived expecting to start work at 6 a.m.

"Most of the employees that were killed were new hires. They were sons of older employees," Bell said. "I'm just fortunate that my son wasn't there."

Karin Norred said one of the dead was her son, Jody.

"I had a man show up at my door and say there was a little problem at Wyman-Gordon, that there had been an explosion, and that my son was dead," she said. "I don't think my son was a little problem."

The blast occurred near a 30,000-ton press in the plant, which produces extruded pipe used in power and chemical plants.

"The press is run under high pressure and they really don't know what happened," said union official Leslie Schroeter. "The press wasn't in operation at the time of the explosion. A maintenance crew was working."

Schroeter, special representative with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said the plant had not had any fatal accidents before.

One of the injured workers, Greg Dargin, 31, was at Hermann Hospital with burns on his chest, face and arm, and with metal fragments embedded in his chest, said his wife, Linda Dargin.

"He's not sure what caused the explosion or anything," Mrs. Dargin said.