Photo from Starved Rock State Park’s online gallery.
Three men who had been fishing along the Illinois River near Starved Rock State Park died after apparently igniting an explosive powder.
The men two of whom may be from the Chicago area were found around 7 p.m. Thursday about 100 yards west of the Route 178 bridge in Utica, authorities said.
They appeared to have been relaxing along the river, fishing, before igniting black powder that was in a hole, LaSalle County Coroner Rich Ploch said. There was no device, though black powder was the original gunpowder and can be used to make fireworks.
Three men die after they ignite a black powder substance which explodes on a river bank in an Illinois state park
Authorities found their bodies along the Illinois River in Starved Rock State Park in Utica, about 75 miles outside of Chicago ,on Thursday
Autopsies are scheduled for today, but Ploch said all three died from injuries sustained in the blast
Coroner s office said they have to identify the bodies and notify their families before releasing their names
May 7, 2021
4/6/21 Starved Rock State Park – Studstill Media Photo
UTICA – Three individuals are dead after authorities say they may have ignited black powder along the bank of the Illinois River on Thursday. Utica EMS were called to an area west of the Starved Rock State Park boat ramp where they say they discovered three deceased males around 7:20 PM. The FBI and the Kane County Bomb Squad assisted in the investigation. The victims identities have not been released, and officials say the matter is unrelated to the bridge construction activities in the area.
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Coroner: 3 killed after apparently igniting black powder
May 7, 2021
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NORTH UTICA, Ill. (AP) Three people died after apparently igniting a “black powder substance” and causing an explosion near a state park in northern Illinois, a coroner said.
First responders were called to an area along the Illinois River west of a Starved Rock State Park boat ramp where they they discovered three dead males around 7:20 p.m. Thursday, authorities said. Black powder was the original gunpowder and can be used to make fireworks.
“With assistance from the (Illinois) State Police, the Kane County Bomb Squad Unit & the FBI, it was determined that the individuals appeared to have ignited a type of black powder substance along an area near the riverbank,” LaSalle County Coroner Rich Ploch said.