Fatalities reported in Omaha plant explosion (BLOG)

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwKGM-WJapjZ7pMTbJQPFp3pAG0CnbGKji6kRceoH7OgjyWWdKTUm5kMOk7bP_9cMwAJrvBl3mxCib2KuZ7dpLcpmVh9HjGzB7fAxoRjVoTl3ycRgA0h_fTidAySYTErugHqfF34H37s/s1600/d98b896e-6af2-4f7e-8c05-7c14b57feb93_AP245091164147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilwKGM-WJapjZ7pMTbJQPFp3pAG0CnbGKji6kRceoH7OgjyWWdKTUm5kMOk7bP_9cMwAJrvBl3mxCib2KuZ7dpLcpmVh9HjGzB7fAxoRjVoTl3ycRgA0h_fTidAySYTErugHqfF34H37s/s1600/d98b896e-6af2-4f7e-8c05-7c14b57feb93_AP245091164147.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390254995993_25174" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha's fire chief said Monday that people have died in an explosion and partial building collapse at an animal feed processing plant, but he would not give a specific number of deaths.</div><div class="body-slot-mod" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17.307695388793945px; margin: 0px 0px 1.1em 10px; max-width: 300px;"><div class="yom-remote"><div class="" id="mediacontentrelatedstory_container"></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Interim Omaha Fire Chief Bernie Kanger said crews have stopped rescue efforts and will start a slower recovery effort to retrieve victims. The International Nutrition plant is unstable, so rescuers must work deliberately to ensure their safety, he said.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390254995993_25203" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Thirty-eight people were inside the building when the explosion occurred Monday morning. Ten were taken to hospitals and four are in critical condition. It's unclear how many people got out without being hurt.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390254995993_25213" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The cause of the blast has not yet been determined, but Kanger said there were no hazardous chemicals at the plant.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390254995993_25223" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">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.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"I was a production line worker, although I don't know if I want to be that anymore," said Lewis, who's worked at International Nutrition for about four months.</div><div class="body-related" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; position: relative;"><a class="body-related-link body-related-video go-to-slideshow-lightbox rapid-noclick-resp landscape onesize get-lbdata-from-dom" data-rapid_p="8" data-uuid="a509eae9-5fa8-39a4-a96e-1cabfdf60337" href="http://news.yahoo.com/video/raw-video-ofd-interim-chief-214244476.html" style="color: #324fe1; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="Raw video: OFD interim chief confirms fatalities in&nbsp;&hellip;"><div class="img-wrap" style="position: relative;"><div class="cta-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.24s linear; font-size: 13px; height: 169px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: background-color 0.24s linear; width: 300px;"><span class="clearfix title cta-text medium" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.24s linear; color: white; font-size: 16px; left: 5px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; top: 5px; transition: opacity 0.24s linear; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 270px; zoom: 1;">Raw video: OFD interim chief confirms fatalities i …</span><span class="cta-text xsmall" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.24s linear; bottom: 5px; color: white; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 42px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.24s linear;">Play video</span><span class="icon-play icon-white-play-xsmall" style="background-color: #324fe1; background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: cover; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; bottom: 5px; cursor: pointer; height: 23px; left: 5px; line-height: 0; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-indent: -1000em; width: 32px; z-index: 1;"></span></div><img alt="Raw video: OFD interim chief confirms fatalities in&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="169" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/eEzyOiddBkuQibx.rE6AzQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTE2OTtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/video/video.hearstnews.com/1390255743_1_lwyww5bb_1_spol743h_11.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: block; opacity: 1 !important; transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; vertical-align: baseline; visibility: visible !important;" width="300" /></div></a></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">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.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Diane Stout said she'd heard from her husband, a manager on the plant maintenance crew, so she knows he's OK, but she and her two daughters were still anxiously waiting to see him because he has heart problems.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The workers all know each other well, Stout said, so she was hoping to hear good news about friends there.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Sarah White said she was at home with her four children when she got a call from her husband right after the explosion.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"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.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"That's where he works every day. That could have been him," White said, referring to the injured workers.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Her husband, Jamar White, said he was lucky.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Jamar White said he heard a loud crack and then looked up to see the back wall of the building collapsing.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"I ran at least 150 feet," White said. "I ran far enough to make sure nothing else would keep falling."</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1390254995993_25250" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Afterward, White said, he could see inside the third floor of the building where at least two co-workers were screaming for help.</div></div>

Fatalities reported in Omaha plant explosion (BLOG)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha's fire chief said Monday that people have died in an explosion and partial building collapse at an animal feed ...

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