Two people have died and four others hospitalized after an industrial accident Thursday afternoon at the TECO plant in Apollo Beach.

Accident occurred in slag tank at Big Bend



2 people killed, 4 seriously hurt



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Corey Dierdorff, the public information officer for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, said a 911 call was made at about 4:20 p.m. about a "possible explosion."

Two people were dead at the scene, he said. Two were airlifted to Tampa General Hospital, and two others were taken by ground to Tampa General. They suffered severe burn injuries.

At a 6:30 p.m. news conference, Dierdorff said the situation was under control, and there was no threat to the community. TECO said it's working with the families of those affected.

Happening Now ~ @HillsFireRescue & @HCSOSheriff on active scene of incident at Big Bend Power Plant. More info to follow @coreydierdorff pic.twitter.com/QX3o7n5M52 — Larry McKinnon ⭐️ (@LarryMcHCSO) June 29, 2017 HCFR is still in a rescue mode at the TECO plant. Early preliminary information is pointing to an industrial accident. pic.twitter.com/MALkKU1CKm — Hillsborough County (@HillsFireRescue) June 29, 2017

The incident occurred at the Big Bend Station, one of three TECO power plants and the largest. It runs on coal.

Routine manteinance was being done on a "slag tank" when the accident occurred, a TECO spokeswoman said. A slag tank houses burned bits of coal and water. That product is used in sandblasting and roofing industries.

Thursday's incident comes almost two decades after a deadly explosion at TECO's Gannon power plant. That happened on April 8, 1999, with three people killed and 50 more injured.

Hydrogen contained inside the 375-megawatt generator exploded when the access cover was prematurely opened during a maintenance outage, Tampa Electric said the next day.



Three people were killed and 50 hurt in a 1999 explosion at TECO's Gannon plant.

TECO was fined $25,200.

In July 2014, a contractor died when he slipped and fell while working at the plant. He fell through a grate on a catwalk.

More details on Thursday's incident to come ... Stay with Bay News 9 on-air and online for updates.