10 injured in animal feed plant explosion

Interim Omaha Fire Chief Bernie Kanger said he’s not sure how many workers could be trapped in the wreckage of the International Nutrition plant. The fire that followed the explosion around 10 am has been extinguished, but firefighters gingerly searched the structure, fearing that more debris could rain down.

“It’s very extreme conditions” inside the plant now, Kanger said. “There is significant structural damage inside.”

Kanger declined to comment on possible fatalities. At the time of the blast there were 38 employees at work. One firefighter was among those injured, Kanger said.

Workers’ family members who gathered outside the plant said they’d received phone calls from loved ones inside who told them one or two people maybe missing or trapped.

Kanger said he’s requested aid from urban search and rescue experts based in Lincoln, so the search could take several more hours.

There appears to be structural damage to the top of the building, which sits in an industrial area visible from Interstate 80, which bisects Nebraska’s largest city. There are no residences nearby and no other buildings were evacuated after the explosion.