Explosion kills scrap yard worker in Washington

A worker at Metals Express Inc. in Pacific, Washington, about 30 miles south of Seattle, was reportedly killed while working atop a salvaged bus at the scrap yard.

According to an online report from the Seattle Times, 62-year-old Fred Schoenbachler died “when a bus he was taking apart exploded” at the metal recycling facility the morning of Monday, March 27, 2017.

Quoting a regional firefighting official, the news report says the force of the blast propelled Schoenbachler “about 25 feet into the air.” He was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses told a TV station that also reported on the incident that he “suffered burns before going into cardiac arrest.”

No one else was injured in the incident, according to the two media reports.