Emotional church service for Bosley mill explosion victims

A fourth body has been recovered in the Bosley mill search, Cheshire Police have confirmed.

William Barks, 51, Dorothy Bailey, 62, Jason Shingler, 38, and Derek Moore, 62, were all named as missing after the blast at the Wood Flour Mills in Tunstall Road, Bosley earlier this month.

A prayer service is to be held seven days on from the devastating explosion at the Bosley wood flour mill that killed four people.

The service will take place today at St Mary the Virgin Church in the Cheshire village between 9am and 10am, a week on from the tragedy that "rocked" a community.

Three bodies have been recovered in the search of the wreckage at the Wood Treatment Limited plant in Cheshire.

Derek Moore, 62, has been identified as one of the victims.

A prayer notice said: "It will be a chance for us to pray for our community and the families of those affected, an opportunity to share and support one another, and a time to reflect on the tragic events of the past week."

A body found in the search for four workers killed in the Bosley mill blast has been identified as Derek Moore.

The 62-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent leaves a wife Lynne and stepson Mark.

Police have so far found three bodies and formal identification has yet to take place on the other two, but they are believed to be William Barks, 51, and Dorothy Bailey, 62.

A statement from Cheshire Police said further forensic tests are still needed but the families have been informed.

Rescue crews are "very confident" they know the location of the fourth victim of the Bosley mill blast.

Chief fire officer for Cheshire Paul Hancock said the removal of three structures had now opened up two points of access.

He added he was hopeful a combination of tunnelling through and excavation of the rubble would resolve the search and recovery operation today.

The Bosley mill incident which has killed at least three people is the worst rescue crews have seen for a decade.

Paul Hitchen, from Urban Search and Rescue, said: "The scale of the incident is unprecedented in this country in the last 10 years.

"It's extremely dangerous and arduous for the rescuers. There's a massive amount of metal, concrete and brickwork which we need to move to continue the search.

"The priority is the rescue of the casualties. It's not possible to say yet when we will find the fourth body."

Structures at Bosley mill are being knocked down as the site is cleared.

This video footage released by Cheshire Police shows a silo, which is commonly used to store grain, being demolished.

Three bodies have been found and one worker is still missing following two explosions at the mill last week.

The owners of Bosley mill have released a statement speaking of their "devastation" at the loss of at least three colleagues.

It comes nearly a week after the tragedy happened during which time the families affected say they have had no contact from Wood Treatment Limited.

The statement said they had now contacted all four families involved and are "discussing how best" to help them.

It added: "They were all highly valued members of staff and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with their families at this difficult time.

"The mill has been part of village life in Bosley for almost 90 years and we share the pain of the community.

"Our primary focus remains supporting the families of those affected, our employees and the local community as best we can while our site and facilities remain closed.

"We are absolutely committed to establishing the cause of this incident and will continue to co-operate fully with the emergency services and Health and Safety Executive. Company staff have been on site since last Friday assisting the authorities.

"We take the safety of our employees extremely seriously but it would be inappropriate to speculate about the circumstances of this incident until the full investigation is complete."

The brother of one of the four people killed in a mill explosion in Cheshire last week has laid flowers at the site in tribute to his sibling.

Kelvin Barks laid the flowers for his brother William together with a poster saying "R.I.P Will Barks. You are our world."

ITV News Correspondent Damon Green is at the scene:

A third body has been found at the Cheshire wood flour mill destroyed in a huge explosion last week.

Cheshire Police said they found the body, which has not been identified, at the Wood Treatment Limited plant in the village of Bosley after they removed three silos yesterday.

A spokesman said: "This has directly allowed the search and recovery operation to continue work at a section of the site indicated previously by search dogs. This has led to the discovery of a third body."

The families of the four people killed in the blast are expected to visit the site today and pay their respects.