At least eight dead after silo explosion in southern Brazil

At least eight people have died, one was missing and nearly a dozen others wounded after a silo exploded at an agricultural co-operative in southern Brazil.

The government of Parana state said in a statement that the blast occurred on Wednesday at the C.Vale co-operative in the small town of Palotina, about 600 km away from the state's capital Curitiba.

Parana is one of Brazil's top grain producing states.

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.

C.Vale, which stores grains in 125 units across five Brazilian states and in Paraguay, said in a separate statement that rescue workers were still scouring the rubble in a search for the missing person on Thursday.

It noted that nearly a dozen people had been hospitalized, excluding the fatalities.

"I'm deeply saddened by what happened at C.Vale," Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro wrote on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter. "I express my condolences to the families of the victims."

Acting Parana Governor Darci Piana headed to Palotina, a city of some 35,000 people, alongside state secretaries to follow the rescue operations and provide support to the families, the government said.