Silo blast in southern Brazil kills at least eight

At least eight people have died, one was missing and nearly a dozen others were wounded after a silo exploded at an agricultural co-operative in southern Brazil, the government of Parana state said.

The government said Acting Parana Governor, Darci Piana has headed to Palotina, alongside state secretaries to follow the rescue operations and provide support to the families.

Report says Parana is one of Brazil’s top grain-producing states, however, it was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.

C.Vale, which stores grains in 125 units across five Brazilian states and in Paraguay, said in a separate statement that rescue workers were still scouring the rubble in a search for the missing person on Thursday.

The blast occurred at the C.Vale co-operative in the small town of Palotina, about 600 kilometers away from the state’s capital Curitiba.

It noted that nearly a dozen people had been hospitalized, excluding the fatalities.

“I’m deeply saddened by what happened at C.Vale,” Agriculture Minister, Carlos Favaro wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. “I express my condolences to the families of the victims.”

REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere