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 Two people died and 10 were injured Monday morning in Omaha,
Nebraska, when the second floor of an animal feed plant collapsed.
In Madill, Oklahoma, two workers died when a large industrial
furnace exploded at a steel plant Monday afternoon.
A search and rescue team in Nebraska on Tuesday recovered the body
of David Ball, a 47-year-old feed plant worker caught in a pile of
reinforced concrete and steel, authorities said. The body of a
53-year-old worker was recovered on Monday. Four people remained
hospitalized.
In both the Nebraska and Oklahoma accidents, authorities said the
triggers for the events were under investigation. Investigators were
not certain if there was an actual explosion before the floor
collapse at Omaha's International Nutrition plant, said Omaha Fire
Department Battalion Chief Tim McCaw.
"Some people have said they heard an explosion and some indicated
they did not," McCaw said. "All we know for sure is there was a
collapse."
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) were among those agencies called in to probe the incident,
said McCaw.
Questions were similarly being asked in Oklahoma.
"We are hoping to get a preliminary investigation done today... that
will tell us if it was accidental or intentional," Sam Schafnitt,
chief of operations for the Oklahoma State Fire Marshall's Office,
said of the explosion at the Mid American Steel and Wire plant.
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The plant furnace, which is used to melt down metal and wire,
exploded at about 4 p.m. local time Monday.
Officials at Mid American Steel and Wire declined to comment, as did
officials at International Nutrition, which makes feed, vitamins and
nutritional products for animals.
(Reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City and Brendan O'Brien in
Milwaukee; editing by Stephen Powell)
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