LAMONT, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities say a teenager was killed and his brother critically injured when they were overcome by fumes in a tunnel at the California recycling plant where they worked.
Kern County officials tell the Bakersfield Californian (http://bit.ly/nrvXK9 ) that 16-year-old Armando Ramirez died and his 22-year-old brother, Eladio Ramirez, was severely injured Wednesday at Community Recycling and Resource Co. in Lamont, just southeast of Bakersfield. Another man was treated and released.
County officials say the brothers were overcome by fumes inside an 8-foot-deep drainage tunnel. Tests showed high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating. The U.S. Department of Labor is also investigating because of the victim's age.
A message left for a representative of the company was not immediately returned Friday.
