An explosion ripped through U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works south of Pittsburgh at 10:51 a.m. on 11 Aug, killing two workers and injuring 10 others. One employee was pulled alive from the rubble after hours of search-and-rescue operations that involved more than a dozen agencies. Five of the injured remain in critical but stable condition, county officials said. The blast originated in the area of coke-oven batteries 13 and 14, according to the company. Those units have been shut down, and two additional batteries were taken offline for inspections, but the rest of the nearly 110-year-old facility has been declared structurally stable. Residents within a one-mile radius were briefly told to stay indoors; air-quality monitors later showed no breach of federal pollution standards, allowing the advisory to be lifted Monday night. U.S. Steel—acquired by Nippon Steel for almost $15 billion in June—said preliminary footage and interviews suggest a gas-valve failure during routine maintenance allowed coke-oven gas to accumulate and ignite. The company is cooperating with OSHA, Allegheny County police and state officials, who warn that a full technical probe could take months. The plant, which employs about 1,300 people and produces roughly 4.3 million tons of coke a year, has faced previous safety and environmental violations, including fatal incidents in 2009 and 2014. Governor Josh Shapiro, Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis and Senator John Fetterman have pledged state support for workers and the local community. U.S. Steel Chief Executive David Burritt said the company is "committed to finding the root cause and ensuring the highest safety standards" before any closed units are restarted.