No New Victims At Blast Site

Authorities completed an exhaustive search of the Ford Motor Co. River Rouge facility Tuesday and announced they had found no additional victims.

One person was killed and 13 critically injured when a massive explosion rocked the sprawling complex outside Detroit on Monday.

"There have been no other victims located," Dearborn Police Chief Ron Deziel said at a press conference. "We're satisfied that there are no other people in the building."

River Rouge site manager Art Janes called the search results "the first good news we've had in this crisis."

The cause of the explosion, which occurred in the coal-fired generating station that supplies power to the plant, remains unknown.

"We're anxious to get in the fire house and find out what we can about it," Janes said. "Obviously we're interested to see what kind of condition it's in and find the root cause of the problem."

"We won't know until who knows when," he added. "We've got to get in and start looking around."

Meanwhile, officials speculated on the impact a prolonged shutdown of the facility could have on the rest of Ford's production system.

If the Rouge parts plant doesn't resume operation quickly, officials said, the company would have to slow production at 16 of its 20 North American assembly plants. By Monday evening, Ford had already cut back hours for workers at four of its plants.

CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston reports that Monday's blast came without warning, blowing out windows and sending thick plumes of smoke pouring from the building.

Ford worker Brian Papke said, "I thought we were dead because of the way the stuff fell on us and pushed us to the ground."

Papke survived unscathed, but several of his colleagues weren't as fortunate. "I went into the room where all the burned people were. It was an awful, awful sight," he said.

"I haven't seen something like that since my days in Vietnam," said Jerry Sullivan, president of the local chapter of the United Auto Workers. "I saw people that were severely burned, severe abrasions all over their bodies. It was a terrible thing to see."

Twenty-two people were treated at Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, said spokeswoman Jennifer George Robinson.

Three were released and three others were listed in stable condition. The rest, including the 13 in critical condition, were transferred to hospitals as far away as Ann Arbor and Toledo, Ohio because of the severity of their burns.

The plant employs 8,000 workers. About 4,000 employees were in the complex at the time, said Ford spokesman Jim Vella.

The 1,100-acre facility was once the world's largest auto plant. Henry Ford built it in 1918 to realize his dream of building a car from start to finish in one location. At its peak, 85,000 people worked here.