Five found dead after a fire at a hydro-electric plant near Georgetown, four manage to escape

Five workers have been found dead after a fire at a hydro-electric power plant near Georgetown, Colorado, according to the authorities.

The men were emptying an underground water pipeline when they were trapped by an explosion which caused a chemical fire.

The dead workers were among a group of nine who were in the tunnel when a machine used to coat the inside of it with epoxy caught fire.

Rescue workers went to the bottom of the tunnel to put out the fire and found the workers' bodies.

Four workers below the fire were able to scramble out of the bottom of the tunnel, which carries water from a reservoir to the plant's turbines.

Two of the four workers who scrambled out from the pipe were treated for chemical inhalation. One was airlifted to a hospital.

The water tunnel had been shut down for routine maintenance.

The cause of the fire is unknown.


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