Excerpts from abc7chicago.com:
A man in his 20’s was killed following a lab explosion inside Pureline Treatment Systems Wednesday afternoon in Bensenville. Firefighters took a hose line to search for the missing employee, trying to make their way through piles of debris and what turned out to be a toxic cloud caused by a damaged container of hydrochloric acid. Two firefighters were briefly hospitalized after inhaling the fumes.
“One lab was completely gone,” Fire Chief Scott Walker said. “The second lab, where the victim was ultimately discovered, you couldn’t make entry because it had a top, but no sides. It was being supported with nothing.”
The company manufactures chlorine dioxide technologies used to purify water. The victim has yet to be identified by the DuPage County Coroner. An official cause for the explosion has not yet been released.
