The death toll from an explosion that partly destroyed a plastics factory in Glasgow has risen from four to seven, the fire service said yesterday.
But rescuers hoped to pull more survivors from the rubble left by Tuesday's blast, which injured dozens and buried an unknown number of people.
"This continues to be a rescue operation and I continue to be optimistic," Strathclyde firemaster Brian Sweeney told Sky News TV.
PHOTO: AFP
He said rescuers heard knocking noises from beneath the remains of the Stockline Plastics building early yesterday morning, but refused to speculate on how many people might still be trapped.
He said that emergency workers no longer had mobile-phone contact with those buried under the rubble.
Rescuers, some using thermal-imaging cameras and heat-seeking equipment, pulled seven people out alive before nightfall on Tuesday. One young woman had been found in "distressing circumstances" after six-and-a-half hours of searching but was expected to make a full recovery, Sweeney said.
With banks of lights illuminating the site, rescuers pressed on into the night, sending in sniffer dogs after they lost voice contact with those under the rubble.
But Sweeney said they had not pulled out any more survivors overnight.
The midday blast wrecked much of the factory and left 40 people injured. At least 14 were still in a serious condition yesterday morning, police said. Five people died at the scene and two died in Glasgow's Western Infirmary.
Between 80 and 100 rescue workers were at the site yesterday morning, and Strathclyde fire service has called for search-and-rescue specialists from the rest of Britain to help. Sweeney said he believed the operation would continue for several days.
It was not clear what caused the blast, but Strathclyde Police Chief Superintendent David Christie said there was "absolutely no" indication that it was related to terrorism.
He added that it was hard to tell how many people might have been caught by the explosion.
"People could have been out for their lunch, members of the public could have been shopping there, people could have been walking by, parking cars nearby, so the exact figure has not been established as yet," he said.
Julie Ryan, a spokeswoman for the International Rescue Corps charity, said the search for survivors was "very laborious."
"We are moving the debris bit by bit, shoring up parts of the building that may potentially collapse," she told BBC radio. "The last thing we want to do is to injure or trap any of our rescue workers."
She said rescuers were using a Trapped Person Locator, which probes the air for carbon dioxide exhaled by unconscious victims in the rubble.
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