Nebraska plant explosion killed 2 girls and an employee

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — The remains of two girls and a relative who were killed in a massive explosion at a Nebraska biofuel plant were recovered Wednesday after crews battled smoldering wreckage and an unstable building for more than 24 hours.

Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg said earlier at a news conference that the children were at the Horizon Biofuels plant ahead of a doctor’s appointment, waiting for their relative to finish work. He was unsure of their exact ages but believed both were under age 12.

Officials identified the adult as Dylan D. Danielson, 32, of Columbus. They would not name the girls, according to a statement from the Dodge County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Sgt. Brie Frank said heavy equipment was brought in to remove rubble, allowing crews to suppress the fire and access part of the building for the recovery mission.

The plant makes animal bedding and wood pellets for heating and smoking food, using tons of wood waste. Spellerberg said authorities believe Tuesday's blast was likely a wood dust explosion in the tall elevator tower.

“That’s really the only thing that makes sense,” Spellerberg said. He said Horizon Biofuels is cooperating “as far as I know.”

The company did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.

The top of the elevator tower was torn apart, exposing a mangled concrete-and-rebar core. Metal siding on the building below was left crumpled and charred, while wisps of white smoke drifted into the air Wednesday despite rain overnight.

Spellerberg said fire crews had been evaluating whether the whole facility might collapse.

“My heart hurts,” Spellerberg told reporters. “It’s a tragedy. We pray for all the families involved.”

The company has 10 employees, according to the Nebraska Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

A 2014 fire at the building damaged the electrical system but left the structure intact, according to reporting by the Fremont Tribune. Significant accumulations of wood dust particles can be a fire and explosion hazard, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Taylor Kirklin, who lives about a half mile (0.8 kilometers) from the building, said her whole house shook from the explosion at around noon. It was so loud that she thought someone crashed a car into her family’s dog kennel business on the property.

“We were really unsure when the explosion happened which plant it was, because there are so many in that area,” she said.

Emily Anderson, who lives just blocks from the plant, said she heard “one really big boom” before police cars flooded in.

“There were just huge plumes of very, very black smoke,” Anderson said. “It was scary.”

Fremont, a city of about 27,000 and the sixth-largest in Nebraska, is 32 miles (52 kilometers) northwest of Omaha.

In this image taken from video provided by KETV, police and firefighters respond to the scene of an explosion in Fremont, Neb., Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (KETV via AP)

A drone is seen above as firefighters battle a fire after an explosion in an industrial area in Fremont, Neb., Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

Firefighters battle a fire after an explosion in an industrial area in Fremont, Neb., Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

Firefighters battle a fire after an explosion in an industrial area in Fremont, Neb., Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

Firefighters battle a fire after an explosion in an industrial area in Fremont, Neb., Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist.

The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the U.S. over his campus activism and criticism of Israel is unconstitutional.

But in its 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts first, before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.

“That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple — not zero or two,” the panel wrote. “But it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”

The law bars Khalil “from attacking his detention and removal in a habeas petition,” the panel added.

It was not clear whether the government would seek to detain Khalil, a legal permanent resident, again while his legal challenges continue.

Thursday’s decision marked a major win for the Trump administration’s sweeping campaign to detain and deport noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.

In a statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Khalil said the appeals ruling was “deeply disappointing, but it does not break our resolve.”

He added: “The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability. I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”

Baher Azmy, one of Khalil's lawyers, said the ruling was “contrary to rulings of other federal courts.” He noted the panel’s finding concerned a “hypertechnical jurisdictional matter,” rather than the legality of the Trump administration’s policy.

“Our legal options are by no means concluded, and we will fight with every available avenue,” he added, saying Khalil would remain free pending the full resolution of all appeals, which could take months or longer.

The ACLU said the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Khalil until the order takes formal effect, which won't happen while he can still immediately appeal.

Khalil's lawyers can request the active judges on the 3rd Circuit hear an appeal, or they can go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

An outspoken leader of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, Khalil was arrested on March 8, 2025. He then spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his firstborn.

Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities “aligned to Hamas,” though they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. They have also accused Khalil, 30, of failing to disclose information on his green card application.

The government has justified the arrest under a seldom-used statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.

In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that justification would likely be declared unconstitutional and ordered Khalil released.

President Donald Trump's administration appealed that ruling, arguing the deportation decision should fall to an immigration judge, rather than a federal court.

Khalil has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” framing his arrest and detention as a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”

Judge Arianna Freeman dissented Thursday, writing that her colleagues were holding Khalil to the wrong legal standard. Khalil, she wrote, is raising “now-or-never claims” that can be handled at the district court level. He does not have a final order of removal, which would permit a challenge in an appellate court, she wrote.

Both judges who ruled against Khalil, Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, were Republican appointees. President George W. Bush appointed Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit, while Trump appointed Bibas. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, appointed Freeman.

The majority opinion noted Freeman worried the ruling would leave Khalil with no remedy for unconstitutional immigration detention, even if he later can appeal.

“But our legal system routinely forces petitioners — even those with meritorious claims — to wait to raise their arguments, the judges wrote. “To be sure, the immigration judge’s order of removal is not yet final; the Board has not affirmed her ruling and has held the parties’ briefing deadlines in abeyance pending this opinion. But if the Board ultimately affirms, Khalil can get meaningful review.”

The decision comes as an appeals board in the immigration court system weighs a previous order that found Khalil could be deported. His attorneys have argued that the federal order should take precedence.

That judge has suggested Khalil could be deported to Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative, or Syria, where he was born in a refugee camp to a Palestinian family.

His attorneys have said he faces mortal danger if forced to return to either country.

Associated Press Writer Larry Neumeister contributed to this story.

FILE - Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil holds a news conference outside Federal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 in Philadelphia (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)