An antique steam-powered tractor exploded yesterday at a county fairground in Medina, Ohio, killing four men and injuring 35 to 40 people, including children, officials said.
Four men were killed by the blast and dozens more were injured when metal shrapnel and hot oil spewed from the machine, causing severe burns, lacerations and broken bones, police and hospital officials said.
Officials said that the blast occurred without warning, gushing hot oil 50 to 75 yards.
A nursing supervisor at the Akron Children's Hospital Medical Center in Akron, Ohio, where eight people were being treated, said she heard reports that children were riding the machine when it blew up. Police could not confirm the reports.
A spokeswoman for the Medina General Hospital said 17 people were being treated there. Other people were sent to six or seven other area hospitals, the spokeswoman said.
The locomotive is part of an exhibit of old engines at the fair, which opened in Medina yesterday.