Dutch rescuers search for buried workers

GEERTRUIDENBERG, Netherlands -- Rescuers using dogs strapped with cameras and heat-seeking devices Tuesday found one of four missing workers buried under scaffolding that collapsed inside a towering industrial boiler.

Teams were breaking through the boiler wall to remove debris and try to pull the man out. But Mayor Matthieu Mejier was quoted by a TV station as saying that the man showed no sign of life.

On Monday, the body of a 45-year-old American was pulled from the boiler, more than 36 hours after the accident at the Amercentrale power plant, and three other workers -- two Americans and a Turk -- were rescued Sunday. That meant one American and three more Turks were still in the boiler when the latest man was found. Officials did not give the nationality of the worker discovered Tuesday.

The 213 feet of scaffolding buckled for unknown reasons during maintenance Sunday, trapping the eight specialists.

The man located Tuesday was found about 69 feet above ground level, higher than rescuers had expected.

He was found after rescuers punched holes through the boiler wall and inserted dogs with cameras to crawl through the maze of crumpled pipes and planks, said Frans Van Son, a city spokesman.

Thermal devices failed to detect heat from any of the missing men, he said.

The men were cleaning the inside wall of the 262-foot-tall boiler when the scaffold caved in. The plant, about 60 miles south of Amsterdam, supplies power to millions of households.

On Sunday, one man who was working near the top was rescued with only minor injuries. Two others were rescued more than 65 feet lower, through holes drilled in the wall of the boiler.

The fourth man, identified as David Lee Pope, 45, of Marceline, Mo., was dead by the time rescuers reached him. His hometown was not released by Dutch authorities.