Death toll in Texas oil refinery explosion rises to 15

TEXAS CITY, Texas — The lone worker unaccounted for after an explosion at a BP oil refinery was found dead in the rubble, bringing the death toll to 15 in a blast that also injured more than 100 people, officials said today.

BP spokesman Bill Stephens said the worker was found near the site of the blast. Earlier, officials said records had indicated the worker checked out and left the refinery after the Wednesday afternoon explosion.

Officials said about 1,100 employees and 2,200 contract workers were at the refinery when the blast shot flames into the sky, forced schoolchildren to cower under desks and showered plant grounds with ash and charred metal. It rattled windows more than five miles from the 1,200-acre plant near Houston.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. Don Parus, the plant's manager, said it happened during scheduled maintenance work in an area of the refinery that boosts the octane level of gasoline.

The initial 14 deaths reported were contractors for J.E. Merit Constructors Inc., a field services provider and subsidiary of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. in Pasadena, Calif., Parus said. It was not immediately clear if the 15th was also a contractor there.

"Our focus has been entirely on the people who are affected by this," said Jacobs spokesman Rod Sharp. He said he would issue a detailed statement after investigators gather more information.

The plant typically processes about 433,000 barrels of crude oil a day, producing 3 percent of the U.S. supply. Other than the unit affected by the blast, the rest of the refinery was running normally, said Stephens, spokesman for BP, formerly British Petroleum.

BP Chief Executive John Browne said the blast would not affect the U.S. gas supply.

"The bulk of the refinery is operating, and operating well," Browne said.

Browne spoke during a news conference at Texas City's City Hall, less than a block from the convention center where contractors' families were gathering to go identify victims at the Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office.

A thorough investigation is under way, BP America president Ross Pillari said.

"It's clear that we have a lot of work to do in the coming days to make sure we understand exactly what happened, and we're going to do that," Pillari said. "We are going to put all of our resources into it." Federal investigators also planned to review the accident.

Wenceslado de la Cerda, a 50-year-old retired firefighter, said the blast shook the ground, rattled windows and knocked ceiling panels to the floor.

"Basically, it was one big boom," he said. "It's a shame that people have to get killed and hurt trying to make a dollar in these plants, but that's part of reality."

The plant and town, population 40,000, have dealt with two other recent refinery accidents.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined the refinery nearly $110,000 after two employees were burned to death by superheated water in September.

Another explosion forced the evacuation of the plant for several hours last March. Afterward, OSHA fined the refinery $63,000 for 14 safety violations, including problems with its emergency shutdown system and employee training.

Texas City is the site of the worst industrial accident in U.S. history. In 1947, a fire aboard a ship at the Texas City docks triggered a huge explosion that killed 576 people and left fires burning in the city for days.

"Welcome to life in Texas City," Marion Taylor, 55, said Wednesday. "I was born here and pretty much, it happens from time to time."