A mortar round exploded Monday at a suburban St. Louis metal recycling plant that does business with the military, killing two people, according to Reuters.
The explosion at Totall Metal Recycling in Granite City occurred about 6:25 a.m., police said, Reuters reported.
Totall Metal Recycling, which employs about 160 people, according to its website, does business with the military and it's not unusual for it to have items such as "military engines and ammunition casings," police chief Rich Miller said, according to Reuters.
"This corporation recycles everything you can think of, from plastics to cardboard to metals, and some of their contracts involve getting materials from the military," Miller said at a briefing for reporters near the plant Monday afternoon, Reuters reported.
He said authorities do not suspect any malicious intent and were investigating the explosion as an "industrial accident," according to Reuters.
The victims, whom responders could not initially get to because of the fear of further explosions, were not immediately identified, Reuters reported. A third person was injured and taken to a St. Louis hospital, police said, but a condition was not available.
The Illinois secretary of state's bomb squad was dispatched to the scene to support an explosive ordnance disposal unit from Scott Air Force Base, secretary of state's spokesman Henry Haupt said, according to Reuters.
Also on the scene were agents from the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and St. Louis city and county police agencies, Miller said, Reuters reported.
No information was released Monday on the victims pending positive identification, Madison County chief deputy coroner Roger Smith said, according to Reuters.
The company said in a statement it was an extremely difficult day with the loss of two friends and colleagues and it was cooperating with local, state and federal authorities investigating the incident, Reuters reported.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families as we collectively cope with this tragedy," the company said, according to Reuters.
