One person was confirmed dead and two others remained missing after a massive explosion in a silicon plant in northern Illinois.

The victims were among nine employees working inside the 30,000-square-foot AB Specialty Silicones facility when the explosion occurred Friday night, Waukegan Fire Marshal Steven Lenzi said. Two of four injured people declined treatment. The employee who died was not immediately identified.

Authorities on Saturday suspended the search for the two missing people due to concern about the structural stability of the damaged building.

Lenzi said it’s unlikely the missing workers survived.

“The conditions are really rough in there,” he stated. “There’s a lot of damage. There was a lot of fire throughout.”

The plant typically operates 24 hours a day, mixing chemicals and other materials to make silicone, Lenzi added.

The cause of the blast is not yet known. It was so intense that the ground shook in towns throughout the region, about 50 miles north of Chicago along Lake Michigan. Five buildings nearby were damaged, with glass on windows and doors shattering, Lenzi said.

With Post Wire Services