Authorities have identified an the utility worker who was killed in a natural gas explosion as 38-year-old Arturo Silva Jr., of Mapleton.
Fulton County Coroner Steve Hines identified the Ameren Illinois worker on today, after the explosion last evening that rocked the downtown Canton square. Several other people were injured in the blast, including three other Ameren workers. One of them life flighted to OSF St. Francis Medical Center.
Canton Police Chief Rick Nichols says a two-block area around the square is still blocked off. He says it appears a contractor damaged a gas line while digging and that the utility workers were called to the scene. The cause of the blast remains under investigation.
Nichols says the blast's impact was "tremendous" and that it caused serious damage.