Wilmington sanitation worker critically wounded after explosion in trash truck

WILMINGTON, Del. (FOX 29) - Two Wilmington sanitation workers were hospitalized after an explosion in the garbage truck.

Investigators say sanitation workers were loading trash into their truck Thursday, just before 8 a.m. on the unit block of Vandever Avenue, in Wilmington.

According to officials, the workers were compacting trash inside the truck when a oxygen tank cylinder was compressed and exploded. The blast sent shrapnel flying from the truck and injured two workers.

A 40-year-old was air-lifted to Christiana Hospital with a chest wound casued by the hail of shrapnel. That worker is listed in critical condition, with non-life threatening injuries.

A second worker was blown onto a nearby sidewalk and injured his head. That worker was transported to Wilmington Hospital for minor injuries and has since been released.