Many feared dead as huge blast rips through Texas: Another 200 injured and scores of homes destroyed in fertilizer plant explosion

'Five firefighters and police officer killed' at fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, according to local reports
Nursing home has reportedly collapsed as area evacuated over fears of secondary explosion
Up to 200 people injured; 40 critically and several undergoing surgery at hospitals in Waco, Texas

An explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas has left dozens of people feared dead, hundreds injured and caused multiple buildings to be flattened.

The blast at the plant in West, close to Waco, at 7.50pm (CST) on Wednesday left fires burning as a three-mile radius around the blast zone was evacuated amid fears of a secondary explosion.

Texas Department of Public Safety D.L. Wilson said in a press conference at midnight that he could not confirm a number of dead but that it was likely to be significant.

Six or seven fire crew are unaccounted for following the blast. Firefighters, many of whom are volunteers in West, were unable to battle the blaze at present because of the extreme danger.

Victims with blast wounds and lacerations were being taken to local hospitals in Waco. Up to 200 people are injured, some 40 critically and two are currently undergoing surgery. Two children have been transported to a nearby pediatrics' unit and nine flown to a specialist burn unit in Dallas.




Blast: A column of smoke rises after an explosion at a fertilizer plant north of Waco, Texas on Wednesday




Destruction: Rescue workers pass a damaged apartment complex after a nearby fertilizer plant exploded in Texas

Devastation: An apartment complex has the front blown completely off following the plant explosion in West, Texas






http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ople-dead.html

some report say 70 people killed include firefighter & police.......