At least 4 dead after engine explodes at Ohio fair

Dozens were injured, some critically, by flying metal and hot oil when the engine exploded

MEDINA, Ohio (CNN) -- An antique steam engine exploded Sunday at a fair, killing four people and injuring at least 49 others, authorities said. Some of the victims were children.

"It was extremely chaotic, people all over, laying around," said Medina County Sheriff Neil Hassinger. "It was a disaster scene."

Hassinger said some of injured were in critical condition.

The explosion happened at about 6:45 p.m., when an antique steam engine was pulling into its parking place. It was part of a display of old-style engines, a popular draw at the annual fair.

Medina Fire Department Chief Bill Herthneck said the tractor engine exploded without warning. "There was no fire afterwards. The injuries were all immediate."

Those standing in the immediate vicinity of the engine were hurt, many of them suffering burns. Others were hit by hot metal shrapnel.

Two of the injured were police officers who were walking by the engine at the time, Herthneck said.

"There's evidence of hot oil being pushed out of this thing probably 50 feet away, maybe 75 feet away, in big volumes so anybody who was just walking by could have been very seriously burned and we think that's where most of these victims came from," said Herthneck.

VIDEO An antiques tractor explodes killing four and injuring at least 35 people at county fair in Ohio. WJW's Patty Lee reports (July 29) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

A spokeswoman for Medina General Hospital said 18 people, both adults and children, were brought there with a variety of injuries.

Eight people were brought to Children's Hospital Medical Center in Akron, said a nursing supervisor who declined to give her name. The youngest victim was 7 years old, she said, and the oldest was a grandfather.

She said she expected all but one of them to be admitted.

"They are in the process of triage," the spokeswoman said. "There are some kind of shrapnel-like shards being removed from some of the patients here."

One patient was being examined for breathing problems.

Emergency workers take an injured man to get treatment

Three men were brought to Akron General Hospital with various injuries including burns, said spokeswoman Mary Adams. Two of them -- 20 and 23 years old -- were in critical condition, and a 63-year-old was listed in stable condition.

Hassinger said the cause of the explosion was being investigated.

"The people that were here were setting up," Hassinger said. "There were visitors looking and there were family members here of those that were setting up."

Medina is 25 miles west of Akron and 25 miles southwest of Cleveland.

Sunday was the first day of the six-day fair at the Medina County Fairgrounds.