A second body has been found in the search for missing workers feared killed after explosions at Bosley mill.
The remains of the victim were recovered on Tuesday morning from the wreckage of the blast in the village of Bosley, Cheshire, where a 1,000C inferno had reduced the four-storey building to rubble, police confirmed.
A Cheshire police spokesman said: “Sadly we can confirm that a second body has been found in the Bosley mill search.”
Sadly, we can confirm that a second body has been found in the Bosley mill search #Bosleyincident
— Cheshire Police (@cheshirepolice) July 21, 2015
“Our thoughts are with all those waiting for news of loved ones,” he said. No formal identification has yet taken place.
Another body had been found on Sunday evening, which was also not formally identified.
Fire and rescue teams have been working non-stop to find William Barks, 51, Dorothy Bailey, 62, Jason Shingler, 38, and Derek Moore, 62, who had been unaccounted for since the explosion.
A joint investigation is under way between police, fire service and the Health and safety Executive to establish the cause of the incident.
Asst Ch Con Guy Hindle said: “We continue to work with our colleagues in very difficult conditions with ongoing risks and the need to preserve the scene for investigation – it is an extremely complex scene to examine and we’ve not yet got full access to it.”
Each agency has a wide range of expertise, and representatives, Hindle said adding: ”Each are dedicated to the investigation and making the best use of their skills.”
“We are making a number of inquiries, but we have to bear in mind that we can’t compromise the rescue operation. We are interviewing witnesses and gathering other evidence, all of which will form the investigation.”
A Cheshire fire and rescue service spokeswoman said: “Efforts continue to locate those unaccounted for. All of our thoughts are with the families and friends of those caught up in this terrible incident.”
The explosions that tore through Wood Flour Mills last Friday came after earlier fires on the site in 2010 and 2012. The mill, which made linoleum products out of wood ground down to a powder or flour, has been producing wood flour since 1930 and is the sole manufacturer in the UK.
Enforcement officers had been called to the mill two weeks before the explosions last week that destroyed the complex.
Thirty-five casualties were treated at the scene, with four people taken to hospital.
Michael Jones, leader of Cheshire East council, told a press conference: “We were on site two weeks ago clearing it up and they did well to clear it up. We will produce that evidence as and when necessary.”
