Two workers killed in tyre explosion at Delta Air Lines facility in Atlanta

Two workers have been killed and another was seriously injured after a tyre explosion at a Delta Air Lines maintenance facility near the Atlanta airport.

Delta said the explosion occurred while wheel components were being disassembled for maintenance at a wheel and brake garage.

The parts were not attached to a plane at the time, the airline said.

The US federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation. Delta said it is working with authorities, and the cause of the explosion has not been released.

Several Atlanta fire units and police responded to the maintenance hangar near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport shortly after 5am on Tuesday local time (10am BST), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The airport said flights were not affected, and Delta said its maintenance operation was also unaffected.

“The Delta family is heartbroken at the loss of two team members and the injury of another following an incident this morning at the Atlanta Technical Operations Maintenance facility,” Delta said in a statement. “We have extended our full support to family members and colleagues during this incredibly difficult time.”

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens posted on X to offer his condolences to relatives of the victims.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which is trying to organise 20,000 ground workers at largely non-union Delta, called on the airline and authorities “to quickly launch a thorough investigation into how this happened”.