(CNN) -- As the sun rose Thursday over West, Texas,
the scope of the small town's devastation came into fuller view: a
gruesome, bloody scene, homes flattened to rubble, and scores of
firefighters battling a raging blaze.
The massive, deadly blast
at a fertilizer plant Wednesday night forced the evacuation of about
half the town of about 2,800 people and left officials asking key
questions: Was it a crime or an accident? How could it have happened?
"Nothing at this point
indicates we have had criminal activity, but we are not ruling that
out," said Sgt. William Patrick Swanton of the nearby Waco Police
Department.
A more immediate question is how high the death toll will rise.
It could be between five
and 15, Swanton said. Dr. George Smith, the city's emergency management
system director, said it could spike to 60 or 70.
"We have two EMS personnel that are dead for sure, and there may be three firefighters that are dead," Smith said.
"There are a lot of people that will not be here tomorrow," Mayor Tommy Muska warned late Wednesday.
The Texas National Guard
has sent 21 troops from a civil support team to monitor air quality near
the blast, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
The White House said it
is monitoring the situation through FEMA, which is in touch with state
and local authorities. Federal authorities stand ready to help, a FEMA
official said.
More than 160 people
were injured when the explosion shook homes as far as 50 miles away. It
measured as a 2.1-magnitude seismic event, according to the United
States Geological Survey.
"It's overwhleming to
us," Smith told CNN affiliate KCEN, with blood spattered all over his
face from injuries he suffered. The town has only three ambulances, he
said.
Between 50 and 60 homes in a five-block area suffered damage, officials said.
The explosion rocked the West Fertilizer Co. at about 7:50 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET).
Patients were rushed to
several hospitals. Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center reported five
patients in intensive care -- two in critical condition, three in
serious condition. At least 28 patients will be admitted, said hospital
chief Glenn Robinson.
About half the community was evacuated, Muska said.
"It was like a nuclear bomb went off," he said of the blast. "Big old mushroom cloud."
"(It's) massive -- just
like Iraq. Just like the Murrah (Federal) Building in Oklahoma City,"
said D.L. Wilson of the Texas public safety department.
The blast stripped a
nearby apartment complex, with 50 units, of its walls and windows. "It
was just a skeleton standing up," Wilson said.
A nursing home, with 133 residents, was quickly evacuated. A middle school also is located near the plant.
SOURCE : http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/texas-explosion/index.html
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