Barge Explodes and Sinks in Chicago Ship Channel Killing One

The cause of the blast has yet to be determined, but three surviving crew members said they were trying to light a diesel-fueled boiler, which might have ignited and caused the explosion. The barge was transporting 588,000 gallons of byproduct from an Exxon-Mobil refinery in Joliet.

The U.S. Coast Guard closed parts of the Chicago Sanity and Ship Channel until it was deemed safe for vessel traffic.