STOYSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania scrap metal worker has died of burns he suffered when he was cutting a lock off a large steel box that he didn't know contained at least 50 pounds of explosive black powder.
Fifty-year-old George Rininger, of Hooversville, died at a Pittsburgh hospital on Saturday, a day after he was injured while working for Kantner Iron and Steel in Stoystown.
Business owner John Toth says Rininger was an expert at cutting up scrap iron and steel and says the box containing the explosives was not labeled as such.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating.
Toth says the scrap metal box came from a nearby farm. Officials haven't said whether anyone connected with the box might face criminal charges.