Two killed at Nebraska feed plant in US

Omaha, Jan 21 –  An explosion and fire flattened part of an animal feed plant in Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday, killing two people and injuring at least 10 others, authorities said.

 

About 38 employees were working at the International Nutrition plant at midmorning when there was an explosion and part of the building collapsed, interim fire chief Bernard Kanger told a news conference.

 

A spokeswoman for Mayor Jean Stothert said two people were killed and all employees at the plant had been accounted for.

 

At least 10 people were taken to hospitals in Omaha and Lincoln, Kanger said, and four of them were in critical condition.

 

He described the explosion and fire as an industrial accident, but the cause was still unknown. About 50 Omaha firefighters had battled the blaze, and were joined by representatives of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

 

Forklift operator Kendrick Houston told the Omaha World-Herald newspaper he was returning to work from a break when the floor began to tremble.

 

"There was this real loud crackling sound and the lights went off," Houston was quoted as saying on the paper's website. "I saw a spark and there was a big ball of flame coming from the southwest corner of the building."

 

Houston said he fled the building. He then tried to go back in to find his co-workers, but heat and smoke forced him to turn back, he added.

 

Nate Lewis, a production line worker, told the newspaper that the building caved in from the third floor. He also said it turned pitch black inside the plant, and that he crawled through the rubble to safety.

 

The grain handling industry, which includes feed plants, is considered "high hazard," due partly to the risk of fires and explosions from the accumulation of combustible grain dust, according to the OSHA website.

 

International Nutrition makes feed, vitamins and nutritional products for animals.

 

Reuters