Massive blast reduces Texas town to 'war zone': Up to 15 dead including five firefighters and hundreds more injured as explosion rips through fertiliser plant

Massive blast reduces Texas town to 'war zone': Up to 15 dead including five firefighters and hundreds more injured as explosion rips through fertiliser plant

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Huge explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant near the town of West, Texas last night

Fire crews are desperately battling to rescue people still thought to be trapped in buildings

Five firefighters and a policeman are reported missing after attending the blaze at 7:50pm local time

Rescue efforts have been hampered due to hazardous chemicals in the air following the explosion

Gas has been turned off in the area - there are concerns if the wind changes further areas will need to be evacuated

The plant is right on the edge of town, only a few hundred metres from houses, a school and nursing home

U.S. Geological Survey: Blast produced ground motion equivalent to that of a magnitude 2.1 earthquake

Mayor: 'We've got a lot of people who are hurt, and there's a lot of people... who aren't gonna be here tomorrow'

Up to 15 people are feared dead including five volunteer firefighters after a giant explosion at a fertiliser plant wreaked devastation in the town of West, Texas, leaving hundreds with horrific injuries.

The blast destroyed scores of buildings, including a nursing home and an apartment complex, and blanketed the area in a cloud of toxic fumes.

The missing volunteer firefighters and a policeman were attending a blaze at the plant at about 7:50pm local time last night it suddenly exploded into a fireball - it thought to be caused by anhydrous ammonia igniting in the heat of the fire.

Sergeant W. Patrick Swanton from Waco’s police department said at least 160 people have been treated for injuries at local hospitals, but he warned that he expects the total number of deaths and injuries to rise when daylight arrives and emergency teams are able to conduct a proper search.

The explosion at West Fertilizer Co. shook the ground with the strength of a small earthquake in the community of 2,800 people located about 20 miles north of Waco.

Explosion: Up to 70 people are feared dead and scores more are injured after a huge explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant near the town of West, Texas last night

Devastation: Dozens of homes and buildings have been destroyed and several are still ablaze after the horrific blast next to an old peoples¿ home, at about 7.50pm local time

A fire still burns in a apartment complex near the explosion

Terrifying: A fire blazes in a home near to the plant - some people are thought still to be trapped in buildings and a number of firefighters are reported missing

 

RAW: 'Worst thing I have...

'They are still getting injured folks out and they are evacuating people from their homes,' Mr Waco said in a press conference this morning.
'At this point, we don't know a number that have been killed. ... I think we will see those fatalities increase as we get toward the morning.'

There is no indication the blast was anything other than an industrial accident, he said.
He told the press there is not believed to be any hazard from smoke or air particles, and firefighters believe they have the blaze in the plant under control.
Hundreds of injured patients with horrific burns, shrapnel wounds and mangled limbs are being treated in hospitals and an emergency triage station that has been hastily set up in a football field.
Around 30 people are thought to be in a critical condition after being hurt in the blast - victims are likely to have suffered typical 'blast injuries' included punctured lungs, bowels, eardrums and possibly wounds caused by flying shrapnel and debris

He said there is not believed to be any hazard from smoke or air particles, and firefighters believe they have the blaze in the plant under control.

ABC News reported that 179 people were hospitalized with at least 24 in critical condition, nine of whom are burn victims sent to Parkland Hospital in Dallas. At least 38 people are in serious condition in total, ABC reported.

Victims are likely to have suffered 'blast injuries' including punctured lungs, eardrums, irritated eyes and possibly wounds caused by flying shrapnel and debris. A number of people are also suffering from 'respiratory distress due to chemical inhalation', head injuries and bone fractures.

Emergency treatment: Victims from the West fertilizer plant explosion are wheeled into Hillcrest Baptist Medical Hospital in Waco, Texas

 The toll of devastation included 50 to 75 houses, an apartment complex with about 50 units that one state police officer said was reduced to 'a skeleton,' a middle school and the West Rest Haven Nursing Home, from which first-responders evacuated 133 patients, some in wheelchairs

A member of the city council, Al Vanek, said the area was 'totally decimated', while McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara commented: 'It looks like a war zone with all the debris.'

Dr. Smith, said that the explosion was like an 'atomic bomb.'

The toll of devastation included 50 to 75 houses, an apartment complex with about 50 units that one state police officer said was reduced to 'a skeleton,' a middle school and the West Rest Haven Nursing Home, from which first-responders evacuated 133 patients, some in wheelchairs.

Mayor Muska said rescuers are now carrying out house-by-house search and rescue in the area around the plants.

Texas Department of Public Safety D.L. Wilson said the damage was comparable to the destruction caused by the 1995 bomb blast that destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Rescue efforts have been hampered due to hazardous chemicals in the air following the explosion. First responders were seen wearing respirators to protect themselves.

 A thunderstorm has been forecast, which could lead to stronger winds pushing the mist - which can cause significant irritation to eyes and skin, and cause breathing problems - around the area. Those north of the blast have been told to stay inside and keep their windows shut to stop the fumes creeping inside their homes.

Although officials have turned off all the gas, they evacuated half the town because they were worried another tank at the facility might explode.

There were subsequent explosions around 10 p.m., according to WFAA. While the cause of the explosions has not yet been reported, a dispatcher was heard in emergency audio recordings warning crews to move away from chemicals in tanks that had not exploded. 

Ben Stratmann, a spokesman for Texas State Sen. Brian Birdwell, said: 'What we are hearing is that there is one fertilizer tank that is still intact at the plant, and there are evacuations in place to make sure everyone gets away from the area safely in case of another explosion,' CNN reported.

If the winds turn, the other half of the town will have to be evacuated as well.

As the small town struggles to comprehend the situation, residents and eyewitnesses have described shocking scenes of destruction.

'It's total chaos,' West City Councilwoman Cheryl Marak told ABC News. She said the explosion killed her dog and felled her home, which is about two blocks from the plant.

 'With the explosions, the whole street lifted up. It was like a massive bomb went off. It demolished both my houses, my mother's and mine. I think everything around us is pretty much just gone.'

Dr. George Smith, speaking with cuts and bloody injuries on his face, described apocalyptic scenes as the roof fell in: 'The windows came in on me, the roof came in on me, the ceiling came in and I worked my way out to go get some more help.

He told NBC News: 'Of course, we lost all communication because the power went out.

'The ambulance station is badly damaged, the whole 1500 block of Stillmeadow, which is the closest street to it.

'My son lives there - he was on the second floor when it fell down, it would have fallen on him. That whole street is gone.'

Local residents, some more than a mile away, reported windows being blown out and hearing an explosion that sounded 'like a bomb'. 

Local resident Bill Bohannan told the Waco Tribune that the blast knocked him off his feet.

He said: 'I was standing next to my car with my fiancee, waiting for my parents to come out and (the plant) exploded.

'It knocked us into the car... Every house within about four blocks is blown apart.'

Emergency audio also reveals the panic and chaos among firefighters and others at the scene, ABC reported. 'We need every ambulance we can get this way,' one dispatcher says. 'A bomb just went off. It's pretty bad.'

Makeshift treatment: Injured people being treated on the flood-lit the high school football field turned into a staging area after the blast

Smoke cloud: A resident in West tweeted these pictures, adding: 'Mushroom cloud from my front yard in West right after the explosion. Pretty intense situation'

Glenn Robinson, CEO of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, where as many as 101 blast victims have been taken, called it a 'very, very unfortunate situation'. Patients have lacerations, orthopedic and burn injuries, he said.

'The injuries that we are seeing are very serious,' he said. 'There are a number of patients that will be going to surgery.'

He added that 10 or 12 people taken to the hospital are in critical condition, with five in intensive care. Several are undergoing surgery and more than 38 are seriously injured, but there have been no fatalities.

In addition, Providence Healthcare Network in Waco has treated 65 patients, 12 of whom have have broken bones, burns and head injuries. One patient is in critical condition, ABC News reported.

West Mayor Tommy Muska said: 'We've got a lot of people who are hurt, and there's a lot of people, I'm sure, who aren't gonna be here tomorrow. We're gonna search for everybody. We're gonna make sure everybody's accounted for. That's the most important thing right now.'

One resident, Dr. George Smith, explained that the devastation was 'overwhelming' for the small town, which has just three ambulances.

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