1 dead 9 missing after chemical tank rupture: ABC World News Tonight with David Muir - May 26, 2026

David Muir, ABC's World News Tonight, America's. most watched newscast. Now streaming same day with all the breaking news. of the day on Disney+. Most watched, most trusted. Now on Disney+ every night. Tonight, the breaking news right now, news of a. deadly rupture at a plant. The images coming in now, authorities say there. have been fatalities and multiple workers injured. victims treated for chemical burns in Washington state. While near Los Angeles, fears of that explosion,

the toxic scare, leading thousands to evacuate. and where this stands at this hour. Also breaking tonight, a Delta pilot declaring. a medical emergency when his co-pilot loses. consciousness in midair on a flight to Detroit. Tonight there's news just in after a deadly home explosion. Authorities at first investigating was this. some sort of accident, a natural gas explosion, but a short time ago now saying this was deliberate. Tonight tracking dangerous storms, more than 30. million Americans under flash flood alerts.

right now. The threat of severe storms, Texas to Georgia, the Ohio Valley, then the mid Atlantic and. the East. Ginger Zee is here. Tonight, President Trump making his third trip to Walter Reed. Medical Center in 13 months. What the president said after his medical evaluation amid. questions over bruising on his hands and swelling. around his ankles. That exam coming amid talks to end the war in Iran. After negotiators arrived, the U.S. then bombing southern Iran. Tonight the CDC now asking for volunteers to help screen.

travelers arriving in the U.S. for Ebola and the concern with the World Cup. being held in the U.S. Tonight we're watching that bitter primary. runoff in the Texas Senate race, What to Watch. Here in New York, the fans going wild. The Knicks clinching their first trip to the. NBA Finals in 27 years. The other news tonight, the urgent search for two. toddlers at this hour. The Amber Alert just issued the mother pleading for help. The alarming moment when an empty bounce house is.

blown away by strong winds. The horrific accident over the Memorial Day. weekend, strong wind sending a restaurant umbrella. flying, killing a woman. Tonight, the teenager bitten by a shark. America's Strong Tonight, the 11 year old struggling. with the national anthem. What happens next? And we remember a jazz great tonight. From ABC News World Headquarters in New York, this. is World News Tonight with David Muir.

Good evening. We begin tonight with the breaking news. emergency crews on the scene right now. The deadly accident at a pulp and paper. mill in Washington state. There are reports of fatalities and multiple. A couple people injured, some in critical condition. at this hour. These are the images coming in now. Authorities say a tank containing thousands of. gallons of a dangerous liquid ruptured at that facility. Photos obtained tonight by the Cowlitz County. News showing extensive damage to the facility. This incident playing out right now comes amid another. toxic scare near Los Angeles.

At a chemical plant, thousands forced to evacuate. and tonight authorities warning that danger at both. facilities is not over yet. ABC's Trevor Ault leads us off tonight with the. images coming in from the mill in Washington State, where the accident has been deadly and where. multiple workers are in critical condition tonight. Tonight, one dead, nine missing, and multiple people critically. injured after a frightening incident at a pulp and. paper mill in southwest Washington state. It looks like there's three people with chemical burns.

and one subject is missing. First responders racing to Nippon Dynaway Packaging Company. around 7.15 a.m. as a tank containing hazardous. liquid known as white liquor had ruptured. Photos obtained by Cowlitz County News, a citizen-run. Facebook news site, appear to show the crumpled tank, vehicles. flipped over and crushed. The substance in the tank is a mixture of chemicals that. can burn the skin on contact or burn the lungs if inhaled. It was roughly an 80,000 gallon tank.

That was roughly 60 percent full. Ten people rushed to the hospital, nine employees. and one a firefighter. The people who are responders here have friends and. relatives that work on site. Meantime, this all comes as thousands of people near Los. Angeles have been living in fear of a massive toxic. explosion there. This industrial tank in Garden Grove filled with 7,000 gallons. of a flammable toxic chemical called methyl methacrylate. was on the verge of blowing up all weekend.

But Monday, officials announced a crack had formed on the tank. that relieved the pressure. What they hope is that the chemical inside that tank will. solidify it or turn into a solid. Then we will not have any threat whatsoever. Today, officials say so far, none of the chemicals. have leaked out and atmospheric monitoring. shows nothing harmful in the air. And David, here in Garden Grove tonight, there is a. community meeting to address the concerns of people as. this risk is still ongoing. Now, five days after people were first told to evacuate, and up in Washington, we know investigative teams.

are there at that facility, working to determine. why that chemical tank violently ruptured. Alright, Trevor Ault leading us off here on a Tuesday night. Trevor, thank you. Also just in tonight, we have just learned about a Delta. pilot who declared a medical emergency in mid-flight after. his co-pilot lost consciousness on that flight to Detroit. Here's Gio Benitez. Tonight, the terrifying moment a Delta pilot. declared a mid-air medical emergency when his co-pilot. passed out during landing. Tower, Endeavour 5245, declaring a medical emergency.

My first officer incapacitated. It happened Saturday as a Delta Connection Endeavor air. flight from Madison, Wisconsin, was landing in Detroit. The airline says the first officer briefly. lost consciousness. Endeavor 52-45, roger. Four left, cleared to land. Where are you parking? Parking Bravo 15. If you get medical service. there immediately. And David, thankfully the flight did land safely. That pilot regained consciousness. and was taken to the hospital. All right, well, glad he's okay.

Giovanni is. Thank you. Tonight we're watching the potential. for dangerous storms. More than 30 million Americans right now. under flash flood alerts and the threat of severe storms. tonight. Texas to Georgia, up to the Ohio Valley, then the. mid Atlantic and the east. Deadly storms over the Memorial Day weekend. Emergency crews finding the body of a woman. and submerged SUV. This was in Petal, Mississippi. So let's get right to chief meteorologist. Ginger Zee with us here tonight, tracking it all. Hi, Ginger. Hi, David. We've already seen wind gusts up to 77 miles per. hour in the Texas Panhandle. Right now, there's a tornado warning just south and east.

of Del Rio, Texas. That watch goes until 9 p.m. But then San Antonio and Austin, both. included in the flood watches. Speaking of, New Orleans up to Atlanta, also a flood watch. And tomorrow, it's Cincinnati to the Maryland Panhandle. Let's talk about tomorrow, because. not only will you get storms that reach over to Washington. DC and Richmond, even Rehoboth Beach, but you're on a level two. out of five for damaging winds and even an isolated tornado. We'll keep an eye on that. Those two pockets of flash flooding again from Houston. to Lake Charles to Shreveport, Cincinnati over through West.

Virginia are for tomorrow. And then that'll leave behind a bittersweet because we. want the rain to help dent the drought, but boy, it. could come too fast, David. Ginger Zee with us here. We'll see you first thing in the morning on. GMA. Thank you, Ginger. Tonight, just a short time ago, the alarming turn after a deadly. home explosion in Michigan. Authorities at first investigating, was this. some sort of accident, potentially a natural. gas explosion? But then just before we came on tonight saying. this was deliberate, here's Rhiannon Ally.

Tonight, police say this massive home explosion in the middle of. the night outside Grand Rapids, Michigan was intentional and. is now being investigated as an attempted murder-suicide. We have determined at this point this believes. to be a domestic-related situation at the. home and that the fire was intentionally set, what. we believe, by the husband. Investigators sifting through piles of debris. for hours, piecing together the eruption allegedly. started by a fire and gas leak from the basement.

The blast so powerful, residents of Plainfield. Township confusing the loud boom for a tornado. Several calls now reporting an explosion, possible house on fire. They're saying they can see flames from a couple miles away. Just before 4 a.m., dozens of calls pouring into 911. A woman from that home could be heard crying for help, her. teenage neighbor and an adult across the street heroically. pulling her from the rubble, those men unable to locate the. other victim. There's still a lot that needs to be done in the investigation,

including working with our medical examiner's office. to positively identify the body that was located in the. building today. Tim Johnson was one of the men who rushed in to help, suffering serious burns. Fire was pretty intense, and so it took me a few tries. to get in there to get her. David, police say the woman who was rescued is. now in critical condition. David? Just a horrible turn in this. case, Rhiannon, thank you. Now to President Trump tonight, making his third trip to. Walter Reed Medical Center, the third trip in 13 months.

What the president said today after his medical evaluation. It comes amid questions over bruising on his hands and. swelling around his ankles. This medical exam also coming amid talks to. end the war in Iran after negotiators. arrived in Qatar. Hours later, the U.S. bombing southern Iran and what Iran is now saying. tonight, vowing retaliation. Rachel Scott at the White House for us. Tonight, President Trump leaving Walter Reed Medical Center. after a three-hour visit, his third in the last. 13 months, declaring himself in good health.

The White House says he underwent routine annual dental. and medical assessments as part of his regular. preventative health care. President Trump, who will turn 80 in June, writing on social. media, "Everything checked out perfectly," but tonight. no further details from the president's doctor. It comes amid questions about the president's health, photos. showing bruising on his hands, which he has been. covering with makeup. The White House has said it's from frequent hand shaking. and the use of aspirin. President Trump has also been spotted with swollen legs,

which the president's doctor said is a result of chronic. venous insufficiency, a benign and common condition. Earlier this year, the president revealed he received a CT. scan in October after the White House initially. said it was an MRI. The president's doctor said the imaging was preventative. and his cardiovascular system shows excellent health. After this most recent doctor's visit at Walter Reed today, the president heading back to the White House as tensions. escalate with Iran. Over the weekend, President Trump praising the negotiations,

saying the two sides were getting a lot closer to a deal. But then just hours after negotiators arrived in. Qatar, the US launching strikes on southern. Iran. Tonight, U.S. officials calling it self-defense, saying they. detected alarming activity over the past 24 hours. Iranian boats trying to lay mines near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Supreme Leader vowing retaliation, saying the region. will no longer be a shield for American bases. The president will hold a cabinet meeting here at. the White House tomorrow. We are told despite those strikes, negotiations.

with Iran do continue. But of course, all of this does come with those questions. about the president's health. The president was seen leaving Walter Reed. earlier today, insisting that everything checked. out perfectly fine. David Rachel Scott at her post at the White House for us. Thank you, Rachel. The CDC tonight is now asking for volunteers to help screen. travelers arriving in the U.S. for Ebola and the concern now with the World Cup. soon being held in the U.S. Here's Faith Abubay. Tonight, the CDC sending an urgent request to its.

staff members for help screening Americans. returning to the U.S. from Central Africa for any potential signs of Ebola. The internal email obtained by ABC News and sent. by acting CDC director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, asking for volunteers to bolster efforts at airports. to check passengers for symptoms like fever. Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, now one. of just three entry points, along with the Virginia's. Washington Dulles and Hartsfield Jackson in Atlanta.

For U.S. citizens who have been in the Democratic. Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan. in the last three weeks, non-Americans are currently. banned from entering the country if they've recently. traveled to those areas. Ebola is suspected to have killed more than 200 people, and international aid groups say this outbreak could become. the deadliest on record. A dire scene in the eastern Congo, a baby born to a mother. infected with Ebola, dying from the disease.

Health officials warning the outbreak is spreading faster. than responders can contain it. One American aid worker in the region telling us doctors. are already stretched thin. Right now we're working 14, 16 hour days, six, seven days a week. We're trying to rotate to get breaks. At least 10 African nations bordering the Democratic. Republic of the Congo now at an elevated. transmission risk. And David, the request for CDC volunteers to help with. airport Ebola screenings comes as millions of.

soccer fans are expected to travel to the U.S. in less than three weeks for the World Cup. But the CDC insists that the risk of spreading Ebola. here in the U.S. remains low. David. But still a legitimate. concern, and Faith, we appreciate you covering it. Tonight, several races we're watching, including. the bitter primary runoff in the Texas Senate race. So let's get right to ABC's Jay O'Brien tonight. Jay? David, this was yet. another critical test for President Trump's grip. on the Republican Party, and embattled Texas. Attorney General Ken Paxton, triumphant over the state's.

incumbent Republican Senator, John Cornyn in. tonight's primary runoff with a last minute endorsement. from President Trump, giving Paxton a final boost. Paxton had survived scandal after scandal, including being impeached by Texas Republicans. over accusations of corruption and infidelity. He denies any wrongdoing and was acquitted. by the state Senate. Trump branding Paxton, who tried to help him overturn the. results of the 2020 election, a "true MAGA warrior" and.

calling Cornyn now "disloyal.". Some Senate Republicans, though, concerned that this. endorsement of Paxton could help elevate the Democratic candidate. in this race, James Tallarico, who's trying to flip this. seat for the first time in more than three decades. David. Jay O'Brien watching this. race right into the night for us, Jay, thank you. Now to other news tonight. Here in New York City, it's been a long time coming. The Knicks clinching their first trip to the. NBA Finals in 27 years. And for Knicks fans, well, let's just say they've been. waiting decades for this moment.

Let's get right to one of those fans, Matt. Rivers, with us tonight. Hey, Matt. Hey, David. Tonight, New York City belongs to the New York Knicks. This headline in the New York Post says it all, "Party like it's 1999.". That was the last time the Knicks even. made it to the Finals. The last time they won the finals was way back in 1973. And because of all that, New York's Knicks fans out. in the streets last night, raucous celebrations, chanting. Knicks in for a reference to their four game sweep. of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Knicks captain Jalen Brunson unanimously named the Eastern.

Conference Finals MVP. And now they move on to the NBA finals, where they. wait to see who they face, the Oklahoma City Thunder. or the San Antonio Spurs. Now the hunt for tickets at those ticket prices. They're eye-opening already. Matt Rivers tonight. Matt, thanks. Go Knicks. When we come back here on the broadcast, the Amber Alert tonight. There is an urgent search right now for two brothers, two toddlers, their mother pleading for help. in what we know so far. Also fierce winds and rain during the Memorial Day weekend, blowing this bounce house away, a restaurant umbrella. also killing a customer, striking her in the head and.

neck and wear this plate out. Also just in tonight, a teen has been bitten by a shark. what his father did to save his life. And later here, the drone failed, a light show going off course dramatically. We'll have more on this in just a moment here. Don't go away. Tonight, the urgent search for two toddlers in Utah. believed to have been abducted by their father, an amber alert now in effect for Will and Wesley Richman, 22 months old and 10 months old, their mother pleading for. their safe return at this hour. A warrant is out for their father, Dane Richman.

It's feared he may have taken them across state lines. Tonight, fierce storms and rain in Florida over. the Memorial Day weekend. This is the moment strong winds in Dade City ripped this. bounce house off the ground, sending it flying across a yard, slamming into a parked car. No children were inside at the time. Strong winds in South Carolina appear to be responsible. for the death of a woman who was struck by an. umbrella while dining on a restaurant patio. The accident in Somerton, a strong gust of wind lifting an. umbrella from a nearby table and striking her in. the head and neck.

EMS crews were unable to revive her. Tonight, we've learned a 17-year-old Texas boy. is in the hospital after being bit by a shark. The boy was with his father about two hours off the coast. of Galveston when he was bit, his father putting a. tourniquet on the wound. Then their boat became disabled. The Coast Guard rushing to rescue them, the teen was said. to be alert and conscious when he was brought ashore. When we come back here tonight, the drone fail, the light show. going dramatically off course, you'll see it, the drones. plunging into the water. And tonight here, we remember a jazz great in a moment.

To the Index of Other News, NASA tonight announcing. the next steps in its plan for a base on the moon. Scheduling three landers, some could launch. as soon as this year, then laying the foundation for. a permanent lunar settlement. The first human set to return to the moon in two years in 2028. A major fail at a drone show over the harbor. in Sydney, Australia. A thousand drones in the sky, almost 90 drones. veering off course, dozens plunging into the water. No one was hurt. Officials say it was caused by a. quote, unforeseen change in radio frequency.

Tonight, jazz great Sonny Rollins has died. The Grammy-winning artist played the tenor sax, of course, one of the most influential jazz soloists of all time. He wrote some of the most often played jazz standards. Sonny Rollins was 95. When we come back on the broadcast, the 11-year-old singing the national anthem. in front of the stadium when something happened. That crowd wasn't going to leave him on his own. Finally tonight, America's Strong,

the 11-year-old performing the national anthem. in front of the stadium when suddenly. he needed some encouragement. Tonight in Norman, Oklahoma, An entire stadium rallying. around a young boy whose nerves suddenly. got the best of him. 11-year-old Ford Burgett singing the national anthem. Midway through the song, Ford said a sound. issue threw him off. He stopped singing, overwhelmed. ♪ Through the night ♪.

That's when the crowd, even the players, join in. They helped Ford finish the song. Just as the song ended, a tearful Ford turned. to walk off the field, but the Sooners softball. team quickly surrounding him with a group hug.

Their coach, too. That crowd not just rooting for the home. team, but for Ford, too. Kind of gave me the courage again, and I like slowly. started to sing it again. It felt it felt really good that they kind of started to. sing and helped me through it. Tonight, Ford's mom Taylor telling us our hope for. Ford is that he sees the good in a hard moment. It builds his character and the kindness of strangers. encourages him to continue pursuing his passions.

[Music]. Tonight, the 11-year-old boy, the national anthem, and the entire stadium helping him get through. [Applause]. Don't worry, Ford, we all have those moments. You got through it and your. team won. Good night. David Muir, the most trusted anchor in America, the most. watched anchor in America. Thank you for making World News Tonight with David Muir the. number one newscast in America.