SKY-HIGH BLAST
Death, destruction at Texas plant
WEST, Tex. — A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant Wednesday night left an unknown number of people dead, state public-safety officials said early Thursday morning.
Dozens more were injured as flames shot into the night sky, leaving the factory a smoldering ruin amid buildings that were damaged for blocks in every direction.
The explosion at West Fertilizer, near Waco, happened just before 8 p.m. and could be heard 45 miles to the north.
West Mayor Tommy Muska said at a news conference three hours after the blast that he didn’t yet know how many people had been killed or injured. He said buildings in a fiveblock radius from the plant were severely damaged by the explosion.
Among the damaged buildings was West Rest Haven Nursing Home, from which first-responders evacuated 133 patients.
“We did get there and got that taken care of,” Muska said. Information was hard to come by in the hours after the blast, with even Texas Gov. Rick Perry saying state officials were waiting for details about the extent of the damage.
Aerial footage showed people being treated for injuries on a flood-lit local football field.
Glenn Robinson, the chief executive of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, told CNN his hospital had received 66 injured people, including 38 who were seriously hurt.
Debby Marak said d she finished d teaching a religion class and d saw smoke. . She had d driven about t a block to- ward the e smoke when n the blast hap- pened.
“It was s like being in n a tornado,” ” Marak, 58, 8, said by phone. “Stuff was flying everywhere. It blew out my windshield.”