A fourth body has been recovered from the wreckage of the Bosley mill explosion in Cheshire.
Four workers at the wood flour mill in the village of Bosley, Cheshire had been missing following an explosion that ripped through the building on the morning of 17 June.
Derek Moore, 62, has been identified as one of the victims, while the two other bodies recovered last week are thought to be those of William Barks, 51, and Dorothy Bailey, 62. The search for their colleague, Jason Shingler, 28, continued over the weekend.
Cheshire police said in a statement that the body was undergoing a post-mortem examination: “Officers from Cheshire Constabulary, Cheshire Fire & Rescue and the Urban Search and Rescue team have recovered remains, which were removed and taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital for post-mortem examination. This was undertaken this afternoon and further forensic tests are required for identification purposes.
“This has been an extremely difficult and distressing time for all involved, and especially for the families of the victims. A number of agencies have provided support for the community in the wake of this devastating incident,” the statement said.
Investigators from the police, fire and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are continuing to work on site to establish the cause of the explosion, Cheshire police added.
Last week it emerged that one of the workers killed in the explosion had warned that the factory was “a disaster waiting to happen”. William Barks, 51, one of the four people trapped in the rubble of the mill had told his brother that Wood Treatment Ltd International (WTL) had failed to buy new parts for a faulty machine despite numerous warnings.
The HSE served WTL with improvement notices two years ago in which it warned of a risk of an explosion or fire, although the company complied with the notice.
