Local News
One dead, two still missing after Wisconsin corn mill explosion
Explosion levels milling complex.
Recovery crews are searching a mountain of debris for two missing employees after a fatal explosion at a corn mill in southern Wisconsin.
Columbia County sheriff’s officials say the explosion and fire at the Didion Milling Plant killed at least one person and injured about a dozen others.
The blast was reported around 11 p.m. Wednesday. Sheriff Dennis Richards says 16 employees were working at the time, and two remained unaccounted for on Thursday morning.
The blast leveled the corn milling structure at the Didion complex in Columbia, a village of about 770 residents roughly 45 miles northeast of Madison.
Some concrete storage silos are damaged but remained standing.
Village President Glen Williams says about three dozen police, fire and rescue agencies responded to the explosion at the complex, which processes corn for ethanol and other industrial uses.
There was no immediate word on the severity of the injuries or what may have caused the blast.