Deadly accident traps, kills several at Omaha animal feed plant

An explosion and building collapse at an Omaha, Neb., animal feed processing plant on Monday reportedly left at least two people dead and 10 injured, officials said.

Declining to give a specific number of dead, Interim Omaha Fire Chief Bernie Kanger said crews have stopped rescue efforts and will start a slower recovery effort to retrieve victims. The cause of the blast has not yet been determined, but Kanger said there were no hazardous chemicals at the plant.

The International Nutrition plant is still unstable, so recovery teams must work carefully to ensure their own safety, Kanger said.

"The chance of finding any victim alive is no longer there," Kanger said, according to local newspaper the Journal Star. About a quarter of the building has collapsed, Klanger added.

Citing information from Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine, the Omaha World Herald reported that two have died in the accident. Kleine did not provide the names of the victims.

The paper also reported that the plant has been fined more than $23,000 by federal authorities over alleged violations of worker safety rules. In 2002, a 45-year-old worker died after being crushed on the job, according to the paper. 

Dust from grain processing can combust, and the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration lays out strict rules for how plants are supposed to handle it, the paper reported. 

Thirty-eight people were inside the building when the explosion occurred Monday morning. Ten were taken to hospitals and four are in critical condition, according to The Associated Press. It's unclear how many people escaped without being hurt, and how many are trapped inside.

Plant worker Nate Lewis, 21, said he was on the first floor when he heard the blast. The building went dark, so he used light from his cellphone to make his way across the production floor to safety outside.

"I was a production line worker, although I don't know if I want to be that anymore," said Lewis, who has worked at International Nutrition for about four months.

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.

Diane Stout said she'd heard from her husband, a manager on the plant maintenance crew, so she knows he's safe, but she and her two daughters were still anxiously waiting to see him because he has heart problems.

The workers all know each other well, Stout said, so she was hoping to hear good news about friends there.

Sarah White, whose husband Jamar works in the plant, said she was at home with her four children when she got a call from him right after the explosion. 

"I could hear the panic in his voice," she said. "But he said he was OK." She said he'd been watching trucks unload from outside the building when the blast occurred.

"That's where he works every day. That could have been him," White said, referring to the injured workers.

Jamar White said he was lucky.

He said he heard a loud crack and then looked up to see the back wall of the building collapsing.

"I ran at least 150 feet," White said. "I ran far enough to make sure nothing else would keep falling."

Afterward, White said, he could see inside the third floor of the building where at least two co-workers were screaming for help.

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press