7 people injured after explosion, fire at petroleum centre in northeast Nebraska

WEST POINT, Neb. – An explosion and fire at a northeast Nebraska petroleum distribution centre left seven people injured Wednesday, two of them critically, officials said.

The explosion happened at Sapp Bros. Petroleum in West Point, about 70 miles northwest of Omaha, General Manager Tim Kaup said. He told reporters the company doesn’t yet know what caused the explosion.

St. Francis Memorial Hospital in West Point said in a statement that seven people were taken to the facility following an incident at Sapp Bros. Petroleum in the town about 70 miles northwest of Omaha.

Two of the people were in critical condition and later taken to a hospital in Omaha, according to the statement. Five others had minor injuries and were treated either in the emergency room or a nearby medical clinic.

Craig Schmaderer, an Omaha resident who works in West Point, told The Associated Press by phone that he was several blocks away from Sapp Bros. when the incident happened.

“I heard something seven blocks away,” he said. “I felt a little vibration.”

Schmaderer said he drove to the site and saw large flames and black smoke fill the air.

Jennifer McTaggart, an employee at a nearby Dairy Queen, told KTIV television in Sioux City, Iowa, that the explosion rattled the business.

“We heard a boom. The windows, the walls, the floors — they all shook,” she said. She then looked out the restaurant’s drive-thru window and could see black smoke coming from the petroleum centre.