Cheshire mill explosion: missing named

The four people who are still missing have been named as William Barks, 51, Dorothy Bailey, 62, Jason Shingler, 38, and Derek Moore, 62. Initial reports suggest a fire and two explosions ripped through the wood flour mill at around 9am on Friday morning.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service’s chief fire officer, Paul Hancock, said the rescuers were searching two specific areas of the collapsed building in Bosley, Cheshire.

He described it as “a very, very challenging and demanding environment.”

“The scene down there is one of complete devastation. We have a building that has exploded from the inside and subsequently collapsed in on itself.

“There are huge complexities around the challenges for the search and rescue teams – we are working close to a bank of six silos, three of which have fallen over in the explosion and the other three are still quite unstable.

“Again we are taking our time in a methodical search of other areas but are also conscious that there are risks still there in the vicinity.”

Cheshire Police’s assistant chief constable, Guy Hindle, said the search for the four people is still continuing more than 48 hours after the initial explosion and that “we are still looking for signs of life down at the scene.”

Paul Hancock said rescuers worked throughout the night, concentrating on the two search areas near collapsed silos and that “the whole mental psyche of the crews down at the site is they are looking for people still alive. They will not give up hope until they locate these four individuals.”