Fremont explosion: Bodies of two girls pulled from wreckage after huge blast

The bodies of two girls have been pulled from the wreckage following an explosion at a factory.

At least three people - including the youngsters, believed to be sisters, have died in the blast at the plant of Horizon Biofuels, which is in Fremont, Nebraska. The city's mayor, Joey Spellerberg, said his "heart hurts" when he announced the tragic developments in a press conference today.

The complex recovery mission, hampered by collapsed steel, continues at the biofuels plant, police said. They confirmed the other fatality is that of Dylan Danielson, a 32-year-old man from of Columbus, Nebraska, but the identities of the children are yet to be disclosed by police. It comes after a nine-year-old boy died in a hospital in London after medics failed to diagnose his condition.

Speaking at the scene of the disaster, Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg said: "My heart hurts. It hurts for this situation that’s a tragedy. We pray for all the families involved. ... To see Nebraska and Fremont be able to come together and rally together right now — we have every resource that we can coming to this site. ... We will continue to pray, lift up the families involved, and we will continue to rally around them."

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It is unclear what caused the explosion on Tuesday. Orange flames raged and plumes of smoke filled the air following the blast. Fire crews remain at the factory, where wood pellets and animal bedding are made.

A spokesperson for Dodge County Sheriff’s Office said: "Our office would like to offer our sincerest condolences to the family of the victims. The family has requested privacy during this time.

"Due to the structural instability caused by the explosion and the fire’s deep-seated hot spots, operations remain complex and hazardous."

Emergency crews are using heavy equipment to initiate a "delayering" process in order to find the victims. Speaking at today's press conference, Carl Nielsen, chief of the Fremont Rural Volunteer Fire Department, said: "It (the recovery operation) is gonna be very slow. So as we peel pieces off, we’re gonna be doing fire suppresion at the same time as the search... We’ll be on scene until we’re done. As far as a timeline goes, none of us have any idea on that so far."

More than 80 firefighters battled a blaze at a house in Sidcup, southeast London, last week, as a result of which residents were ordered to close their windows and doors to prevent smoke inhalation. The residential property in question was under renovation, pictures showed.