An employee at a recycling facility in Mississippi was killed and another escaped injury Wednesday after an explosion, authorities said.

The blast happened about 8:50 a.m. at Jarrell Recycling, Jones County authorities said.

Sheriff Joe Berlin said the cause of the explosion is not yet known, The Hattiesburg American reported.

Berlin said two workers were taking a break after cutting iron in the iron pile

“Witnesses stated that a loud explosion happened … and when the explosion happened, the guy went down and another male sitting with him got blown across the roof,” Berlin said.

The victim’s name has not been released pending notification of family. The cause of death was major lower extremity body trauma, said Jones County Deputy Coroner Ernest Hollingsworth.

“When it exploded, shrapnel is going to fly all kinds of ways,” Hollingsworth said.

The Mississippi State Fire Marshals Office was on the scene investigating the explosion.