No one is certain yet, and an OSHA spokesman has said it could take weeks before investigators know the cause. At this point, authorities are speculating that structural problems in conjunction with combustible dust might have caused the explosion and collapse. The International Nutrition feed plant in Omaha reportedly did not stock and combustible chemicals. But our industrial structural collapse attorneys point out that dust will ignite if it’s very finely ground. Finely ground dust from metals, plastics, chemicals, and foods all carries the potential to ignite and explode.
But there’s some uncertainty as to whether the collapse occurred first, sending a dense cloud of finely ground dust into the air to then ignite. Or whether the explosion occurred first, sending the top two floors into a collapse into the first floor. Several people were trapped by the collapse. Two workers died and 17 were injured, at least two of them critically.
The OSHA spokesman said that investigators have been able to recover some evidence and get photos of the inside of the collapsed feed plant while they were inside with an urban search and rescue team. But he declined to say what the evidence was.
The superintendent of building and development for Omaha, Jay Davis, said that the feed plant “appears to be too damaged to repair.” (Margery A. Beck, Associated Press, 1/22/14)
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