As crews pulled another body from the charred remnants of a sugary refinery, families and co-workers waited anxiously for identities of the five dead and the fate of the three men still missing.
They also desperately hoped for any sign of recovery among the worst injured in the explosion and fire at the refinery, which left 20 workers hospitalized with severe burns, 17 of them in medically induced comas.
"It's just hours of waiting right now," said Hallie Capers, whose two nephews suffered horrific burns and are in critical condition at a burn center.
"We pray and hope that when we do get some news, it'll be good news," he said on Saturday.
Good news was scarce on Saturday as firefighters pulled the fifth body from the Imperial Sugar refinery, outside Savannah.
Fire chief Greg Long said the body was found near the plant's three 24m storage silos, one of which ignited like a bomb during the night shift on Thursday while more than 100 employees worked inside.
Imperial president and chief executive officer John Sheptor has said sugar dust in a silo used to store refined sugar before packaging likely ignited like gunpowder. Sugar dust can be combustible if it's too dry and builds up a static electric charge.
The blast and fire left much of the massive plant dangerously unstable and crews had to shore up the sagging upper floors in a four-story building on Saturday before resuming searching for the missing men.
Firefighters had all but extinguished the fire that had raged in the refinery since the explosion.
Officials clung to slim hope that the missing men could be found alive, Long said.
Imperial Sugar was one of the largest and oldest employers in this city of 5,000. The refinery was a network of warehouses, silos and buildings eight stories tall.
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