Chicago: Three workers dead in Waukegan plant blast

Searchers have found the body of a third worker killed after a massive explosion and fire at a Chicago-area silicone plant, a fire official said on Sunday.

Searchers were working to recover the body from beneath rubble at the facility in Waukegan, about 40 miles (65 km) north of downtown Chicago, said city Fire Marshal Steven Lenzi.

He said the Friday night explosion was an accident and he had ruled out foul play.

"Presently our guys are working hard to recover that second body," Lenzi told reporters at a news conference.

Nine employees were in the plant owned by AB Specialty Silicones at the time of the blast. Another employee is still missing and feared dead, Lenzi said.

Four workers were taken to a hospital after the explosion and two others declined treatment.

The body of one worker was recovered from the plant on Saturday and another employee died later that day in hospital, Lenzi said.

Images of the plant from local media showed its walls stripped away, leaving only a shell of a building with girders and scraps of roofing material.