Raleigh police have detained three illegal immigrants after an investigation into an explosion that startled a neighborhood and forced police to shut the area down for testing.
News 14 Carolina's Deborah Tuff is on the scene Saturday morning, as the plant gets back to business after a hectic week.
RALEIGH -- Raleigh authorities say they're getting closer to having some resolve after an explosion at a scrap metal plant Tuesday.
"We are in the latter stages. We cannot give you a specific time of when we can expect for it to be completed with all our work right now. The military professionals are taking the lead in making sure that everything is done as appropriately as we can," said Raleigh police Chief Harry Dolan.
Friday afternoon, authorities say they detained three Hispanic men on immigration charges. At two of the men's Lee County homes, investigators say they found similiar artillery shells to the ones which caused Tuesday's explosion.
That explosion was a result of compressed 90 mm tank rounds and more than a dozen projectiles for a shoulder handheld anti-tank weapon.
But some people living near the plant were forced to leave their homes, and the ones that did stay had to deal with road closures and the almost constant sound of subsequent detonations of live munitions.
"Like the mayor has said, I would like to express my regrets to the residents in the area, to the residents in the area regarding any inconvenience or any disruption in their lives or any danger," City Councilman James West said. The explosion occured in his district.
Mexican nationals Salvidor Gomez Urieta, Havez Gomez Urieta and Adrian Nunez Aviles are the only persons of interest.
As it stands now, the detonation process has concluded with a total of 34 detonations used to destroy the munitions.