West Texas, explosion injures more than 100; many feared dead
A massive explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas, injuring more than 100 and leaving many feared dead.
Authorities were bracing to find more victims in collapsed
buildings, which rescuers could not approach because of the raging
flames and dangerous chemicals.
The blast happened about 8 p.m. in West, a town of 2,800 about 20 miles north of Waco. It was unclear what had triggered it.
Mayor Tommy Muska, who is a volunteer firefighter, told CNN that he was responding to the blaze and was two blocks away from the plant when it exploded.
"I've just never seen an explosion like that before. It was just a
ball of fire," he said. "It looked like a nuclear bomb went off; it was
just a big old mushroom cloud."
D.L. Wilson, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety,
said at least 100 people had been injured and an unknown number of
people had been killed. As many as 75 houses were damaged and a 50-unit
apartment building looked like a "skeleton standing up," he said.
5:45 a.m. ET: Sgt. William Patrick Swanton of the
Waco, Texas, Police Department estimated 5 to 15 fatalities from the
fertilizer plant explosion.
5:23 a.m. ET: Pope Francis tweeted on his official Twitter account, “Please join me in praying for the victims of the explosion in Texas and their families.”
4: 11 a.m. ET: ABC Chief Health and Medical Editor
Dr. Richard Besser says a continuing danger from the Texas fertilizer
plant explosion and fire is exposure to ammonia.
“What you see with high level ammonia exposure is damage to your
eyes, to your throat, to your nose, to your esophagus when you swallow,”
Besser told ABC News Radio. “A blast that’s going in one direction, if
you get a change in the wind, it can come to another neighborhood and be
affected.”
3:52 a.m. ET: ABC News has confirmed there are a
total of 179 people hospitalized with 10 additional people in triage. At
least 24 are in critical condition, nine of which are burn victims sent
to Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
At least 38 people are in serious condition.
Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco:
David Argueta, vice president of operations, says they currently have
over 100 patients with lacerations, orthopedic and burn injuries. There
are 12 people in surgery or have been admitted that are critical. More
than 38 are seriously injured, but no fatalities have been reported.
Providence Healthcare Network in Waco:
Spokesperson Heather Beck says they have currently treated 65 patients.
Of the 65 patients, 12 have patients have broken bones, burns and head
injuries. One patient is in critical condition.
3:38 a.m. ET: Sgt. William Patrick Swanton,
spokesman for the Waco police expressed a concern of new explosions or
leaks of ammonia from the plant’s ruins.
2:58 a.m. ET: After hearing firefighters were down, George Willoughby, a police officer in a neighboring town, rushed to help the injured.
“I wasn’t here (in West). I was in another town but yeah we felt up
it (explosion) up there too,” Willoughby told ABC News Radio.
2:45 a.m. ET: A team from the U.S. Chemical Safety
Board (CSB) will be heading to the scene of the West Fertilizer Plant
explosion, according to a CSB news release. They are expected to arrive Thursday afternoon.
2:24 a.m. ET: Jonnie Payne of Aderhold Funeral Home
in West, Texas told ABC News that she has not “received any calls as of
yet about fatalities.” She said when the explosi0n happened her “whole
house shook.”
“My son went out there to check on what happened and was injured in
the explosion. He’s now in a hospital in Waco with a broken collarbone,”
she said.
2:10 a.m. ET: There are a total of 172 people
confirmed hospitalized with 23 more people en route/to be admitted. At
least 24 people are in critical condition and at 38-40 people are in
serious condition. Here is the breakdown from each area hospital:
Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco:
Hospital officials said they have more than 100 patients — 101
registered but are currently assessing around 20 in triage area and are
expecting another wave. They are seeing lots of patients with
lacerations, orthopedic injuries and a few burns. Nine severely burned
patients have been directly sent to Parkland hospital burn center in
Dallas. They are reporting no fatalities.
Providence Healthcare Network in Waco: Hospital
officials said they have treated 58 patients. They are in the process
of triaging three. No word yet on whether they will get another wave,
but are prepared. At least one patient is in critical condition Most of
the injuries are moderate—broken bones, cuts, abrasions, scrapes,
respiratory distress—most of these injuries were caused by flying glass
or people knocked down by the force of the blast, according to hospital
spokeswoman Heather Beck.
Hill Regional Hospital: Unclear
Parkland Hospital in Dallas: Hospital officials said they have nine severe burn patients.
Scott & White Memorial in Temple:
Hospital officials said they received four patients, three at Scott
& White Memorial Hospital, and one at McLane Children’s Hospital.
Another patient is in route to McLane Children’s. At least two of the
four patients are listed in critical condition at this time.
The Blood Donation Center will stay open until 2:30 a.m. to allow
residents to come in and donate. The donors can get to the Blood
Donation Center by coming in the main hospital entrance at 2401 S. 31st Street, Temple.
2:03 a.m. ET: ABC News’ Steve Osunsami is at a
triage center in West, Texas: “As we drove into town we ran into
firefighters who were getting gassed up outside of town who tell us the
fire is still burning. It’s under control. But it’s still burning.”
1:43 a.m. ET: West Mayor Tommy Muska said in a news
conference said they are concerned about the wind – which they expect to
change direction about 3 a.m.
Muska told residents to stay in inside because of the hydrous gas that is still in the air.
1:25 a.m. ET: The explosion registered as 2.1 magnitude quake according the USGS. Residents about 30 miles away in the town of Buffford told ABC News that they felt the quake.
1:21 a.m. ET: VIDEO: Homes and business were completely destroyed around the West, Texas, fertilizer plant.
1:09 a.m. ET: Texas Department of Public Safety
trooper D.L. Wilson said in a short news conference that there are more
than 100 injuries with fatalities confirmed but did not specify how many
deaths. Officials are searching for more people and are doing a house
by house search. About 133 people were evacuated from a nursing home.
About half the town has been evacuated. Between 50-75 buildings were
destroyed or damaged.
“Massive. Just like Iraq. Just like the Murray Building in Oklahoma
City… So you can imagine what kind of damage we’re looking at,” Wilson
said in describing the blast.
12:53 a.m. ET: Blood drives are planned for Thursday
in Texas. Linda Goelzer of Carter Blood Care, the primary blood support
service supporting more 58 counties, largest blood provider in Texas
told ABC News the people in the community of West are “heart of gold
people, like a Norman Rockwell painting.”
“The whole town is being evacuated. We had our blood supply pretty
well stocked in Waco as of today but now we are sending more than 300
units of blood from Dallas Fort Worth down to Waco, that’s where
patients are going. Many are being care-flighted to Parkland Hospital in
Dallas for treatment at their burn center,” Goelzer said.
“Tonight our message to our donors is don’t everybody come at once,
we will have patients for who knows how long who will be needing blood.
Especially O-negative are needed, universal donor, will likely be
expended tonight. What we tell people is that the blood helping people
tonight is what’s already on the shelves. What we’ll need most is for
consistency. We have blood drives everyday and we will have them
tomorrow, we just don’t want people flooding in, in droves, like they
did after 9/11. We’re asking our regular donors to keep coming
throughout the week because we expect there will be many survivors.”
12:33 a.m. ET: At least 124 people hospitalized, with one hospital telling us that 20 more are on the way. Of those, 38 considered serious.
Map locates the fertilizer plant that exploded April 17, 2013, in West, Texas.
(AP Photo)
With smoke rising in the distance, a law enformcement officer runs a
check point at the perimeter about half a mile from the West Fertilizer
Company on April 18, 2013 in West, Texas after a massive explosion at
the fertilizer company. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
A fire is seen following an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas,
on April 17, 2013. (Courtesy DFW Scanner)
A mushroom cloud is seen following an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, on April 17, 2013. (DFW Scanner)
A person looks on as emergency workers fight a house fire after a nearby
fertilizer plant exploded on April 17, 2013, in West, Texas. (Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune Herald/AP Photo)
Elderly persons from a nearby nursing home are triaged in a parking lot
before being moved to a school stadium following a fertilizer plant
explosion on April 17, 2013, in West, Texas. The explosion near Waco
injured dozens of people and sent flames shooting high into the night
sky, leaving the factory a smoldering ruin and causing major damage to
surrounding buildings.
(Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune Herald/AP Photo)
Emergency workers evacuate elderly from a damaged nursing home following
an explosion at a fertilizer plant on April 17, 2013, in West, Texas.
An explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco caused numerous injuries
and sent flames shooting high into the night sky. (Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune Herald/AP Photo)
A fire burns at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas after an explosion on April 17, 2013. (Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News/AP Photo)
Ambulances assemble after an explosion at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant on April 17, 2013. (WFAA/ABC News)
An emergency worker walks through damaged apartment building following a
fertilizer plant explosion on April 17, 2013, in West, Texas. An
explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco injured dozens of people and
sent flames shooting high into the night sky, leaving the factory a
smoldering ruin and causing major damage to surrounding buildings.
(Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune Herald/AP Photo)
Rescue workers pass a damaged apartment complex after a nearby
fertilizer plant exploded Wednesday, April 17, 2013, in West, Texas.
(Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune Herald/AP Photo)
A fire still burns in a apartment complex destroyed near a fertilizer
plant that exploded earlier in West, Texas, in this photo made early in
the morning of April 18, 2013. (LM Otero/AP Photo)
Tags: west texas fertilizer explosion, Texas Explotion, West Texas, WARNING, TEXAS
Description: West, Texas, explosion injures more than 100; many feared dead
Via: ABCnews
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