One dead, one hurt inside rail tanker car at St. Joseph biodiesel plant

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) -- One man is dead and another is injured after becoming trapped in a railroad tanker car at a biodiesel plant in St. Joseph.

Authorities are unsure how the men became trapped Monday afternoon but speculated that one of them fell in and the second climbed into the car to help. Twenty-three-year-old Ryley Pearl of Savannah in northwest Missouri was pronounced dead.

The second man remained in satisfactory condition at Heartland Regional Medical Center Monday night. His name was not released.

Police said the tanker car was empty when the men were trapped. Rail cars at Northwest Biodiesel usually carry biodiesel or ingredients for the fuel such as soybean oil or animal fat.

Northwest Biodiesel was the first biofuel plant to open in St. Joseph when it began production in the spring of 2007.

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Information from The St. Joseph News-Press: http://www.stjoenews.net