A Tucson scrap yard cutter was killed when he cut into a military bomb that exploded, authorities said.
The employee who was killed was not identified. A Tucson police officer was flagged down at around 12:45 p.m. local time (3:45 p.m. ET) and told of an explosion at Tucson Iron and Metal, Tucson police said.
The worker was found to have suffered "obvious trauma" and declared dead on scene. Investigators believe he “cut into a piece of metal which turned out to be a military ordnance, causing the explosion,” police said in a statement. No one else was hurt, police said.
Officials from the nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force Base told NBC station KVOA that a check was done after the deadly blast and no explosives were missing.
Air Force officials told the station the type of explosive that detonated is used across all military branches and has been used for the last 50 years. The type of explosive device was not identified.
