A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant rocked the town of West, north of Waco, causing multiple casualties and leaving people trapped and buildings on fire.Emergency personnel were bracing for the possibility of dozens of dead and many more injured in the blast, which occurred before 8 p.m. and could be heard 45 miles away in Waxahachie.Although authorities confirmed that people had been killed, after midnight they were still saying they did not have an official toll. However, Department of Public Safety spokesman D.L. Wilson did estimate that more than 100 people had been injured.
Firefighters were reportedly among those who could not be accounted for after the explosion, which occurred at West Fertilizer Inc., just off Interstate 35, about 80 miles south of Dallas.A blaze had broken out earlier at the plant, and the explosion occurred while firefighters were trying to put it out."It was a small fire and then water got sprayed on the ammonium nitrate, and it exploded just like the Oklahoma City bomb," said Jason Shelton, a clerk at the Czech Best Western Hotel in West. "I live about a thousand feet from it and it blew my screen door off and my back windows. There's houses leveled that were right next to it."
Authorities were evacuating residents of the town of 2,600, including occupants of a nearby nursing home that was badly damaged in the blast that had spread debris across a wide area.Numerous buildings were on fire, including the nursing home and West Middle School. An emergency dispatcher calling for multiple ambulances said, "We do have a lot of injured here."The disaster prompted a massive deployment of law enforcement and emergency personnel from the region, with hospitals and fire-rescue personnel in Dallas among those ready to help. Hospitals as far as Temple had been asked to prepare for hundreds of patients, and numerous emergency helicopters had been dispatched to assist, though high winds were hampering their flights.
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