Sugar refinery blast victim dies in Augusta

Another one of the victims of the Imperial Sugar Refinery explosion in Port Wentworth has died, bringing the death toll from the blast to 14.

Malcolm Frazier, 47, died from his burn injuries early this morning.

Frazier had been in critical condition for more than six months at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta.

One patient remains in critical condition.

Imperial Sugar Co exec to testify

An executive with the Imperial Sugar Company is expected to testify later today to Congress about conditions at the Georgia plant that led to a deadly February explosion. The vice president of operations for Imperial will testify along with several other safety experts--those including the head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the chair of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. A Senate subcommittee has been examining the accident at the Port Wentworth plant after federal investigators found numerous safety violations. Just last week, OSHA proposed nearly nine-million dollars in fines.

Refinery blast victims released

Two more burn victims from the Port Wentworth sugar refinery explosion have been released from Doctors Hospital in Augusta. Only five of the original 20 injured in the blast remain hospitalized. 13 workers were killed in the Feb. 7 tragedy.

Two more refinery blast patients released

Two more burn patients injured from the sugar refinery blast near Savannah in February have been released from a hospital in Augusta. A third is expected to be released later today from the Joseph M. Still Burn Center. With those patients being discharged--of an original 20--that will leave only five patients still being treated at the Augusta facility. Five patients have died at the hospital. The refinery blast of February 7th in Port Wentworth was fatal to 13 workers, and injured dozens others.

Sugar refinery explosion death toll rises to 13

The death toll from the sugar refinery explosion in Port Wentworth last month has now reached 13.

The latest victim died Friday in the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta.

Hospital officials are not releasing the victim's name...at the request of family members.

Six burn victims remain in critical condition at the burn center...Four are in serious condition...

Fed official: Lack of 'housekeeping' to blame for refinery blast

Simple housekeeping of industrial dust could have prevented the deadly explosion at a sugar refinery near Savannah--that from the head of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. The official says "snow-like accumulations" of dust built up at the Port Wentworth plant, leading to the February 7th explosion that killed 12 people and injured dozens more.

The official says factors that led to this accident fit in line with a pattern of similar incidents in recent years--all of which were preventable.