Fatal explosion at Wisconsin bioethanol plant

One person has been killed and two are still missing following an explosion at a corn milling ethanol plant in Cambria, Wisconsin, according to WBAY.com.

The explosion occurred late at night on 31^st May, triggering a power outage in Cambria.

Cambria’s sheriff told a news conference that 16 people were inside the Didion Millon Plant when the explosion happened, according to WBAY.com. Most of those inside suffered serious injuries and had to be transported to hospital via ambulance or helicopter. Two people walked away harmed.

The president of Cambria Village told local radio station WKOW that as far as he knew there was no threat from chemicals or fumes from the plant fire. He also said there were no plan for any evacuations in the area.

Didion Milling is an agricultural processing facility located in the ‘heartland’ of Wisconsin. It utilises a dry corn mill to fractionate corn into separate fractions for food and fuel, prior to sending the fuel fractions to the facilities’ ethanol plant. The company’s website claims: “We are an ethanol producer with a mission to reduce our dependence on foreign oil while we learn to realise the full potential of renewable fuels.”

Riley Didion, president of Didion Milling, asked people to pray for his team.

"The first thing I would ask for is just prayer. Being a family-owned business around for 44 years, our teams are pretty close," Didion told WBAY.com.