Blast injures 15 at US Steel plant

An explosion at the largest coke manufacturing facility in the United States injured 15 people and forced at a partial suspension of the US Steel operations in Clairton, Pennsylvania, media reported. There was a fire in No 2 B battery and apparently there was flammable gas that ignited and exploded, Robert Szymanski, director US Occupational Safety and Health Administration office in Pittsburgh, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The injured were taken to area hospitals, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center spokeswoman Gloria Kreps told the newspaper. The Clairton plant is the largest coke manufacturing facility in the United States, operating 12 coke oven batteries and producing approximately 4.7 million tons of coke annually, US Steel said on its website. The plant serves the commercial coke market plus US Steel's steelmaking facilities.