The bodies of 12 people have been recovered after an enormous fertilizer plant explosion that demolished surrounding neighborhoods for blocks and left more about 200 other people injured, Texas authorities said Friday.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Reyes said it was "with a heavy heart" that he confirmed 12 bodies had been pulled from the area of the plant explosion.
Officials said that at least 150 homes had been destroyed. They have searched all but 25 homes for bodies and expect to finish the task Friday morning. At least three rescue trucks and one fire truck were also destroyed, an indication of how many firefighters had rushed to the scene Wednesday to fight the fire that was burning in the fertilizer facility.
Andrea Jones, 40, lived in the apartment building destroyed by the blast. She'd been standing outside talking on her cellphone with her father and describing the fire to him when the explosion came. "It was the most horrible thing I've ever been through in my entire life," she said. "It felt like a war zone."
She ran away from the devastated building with just the clothes on her back. A "guardian angel" in a black truck sped by, threw open her door and shouted "Get in!" and they raced away from the scene.
Like many who lost homes she is staying in the Czech Inn, a local hotel, while she waits for word on when they can go back into their neighborhood. "I don't think I can go back into our apartment," she said. "I'm going to have to send my dad in. I'd just get too emotional. It was all too close."
Bill and Polly Killough had just sat down to watch TV when a powerful blast roared through their living room, blowing open the front door, bursting windows and collapsing the roof on top of them.
Figuring it must be a tornado, Polly, 64, and her husband clawed their way out of the debris. But looking around, all she could see was devastation. What she saw resembled a war zone.
"Now I know what soldiers go through," she said. "In an instant — just total destruction."
Federal and state investigators were awaiting clearance to enter the blast area to search for clues to the cause of both the initial fire and explosions. "It's still too hot to get in there," Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokeswoman Franceska Perot said. There was no indication of foul play.
With destruction so vast, it was well into Thursday before officials could comprehend and then describe the scope of the tragedy. It arrived on a dark week in America, one in which terror struck Boston, poison-laced letters rattled Washington, and Americans pause to recall the anniversaries of the Virginia Tech massacre and Oklahoma City bombing.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who toured the ravaged town, said railroad tracks to the west of the blast site were fused together from the unimaginable heat. He also saw a leveled playground and an "utterly destroyed" apartment building.
Emergency teams were combing through mountains of debris in a devastated four-block area in hopes of finding survivors after the explosion and fireball engulfed and destroyed homes, businesses, a school and nursing home.
Those killed include members of the West Volunteer Fire Department who were trying to put out the initial blaze, EMS workers and an off-duty Dallas firefighter, the mayor said.
"It's just a tragic, tragic incident," Muska said.
The Dallas Fire-Rescue department said Capt. Kenny Harris, who was at his home in West and joined local volunteer firefighters in battling the blaze at West Fertilizer Co., was killed. Harris, 52, was the married father of three grown sons.
The rest of the fatalities include residents who were in nearby homes when the explosion ripped through town, leveling homes and devastating neighborhoods, Muska said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, declaring the town a disaster area, said the earthquake-like explosion will likely affect every citizen of this tightly knit community of some 2,500 people located just off Interstate 35. He said President Obama called him from Air Force One en route to Boston on Thursday to offer federal assistance.
Emergency teams had responded to a fire call at the plant at 7:29 p.m. The explosion erupted 24 minutes later, as the firefighters, police and paramedics were battling the blaze and attempting to evacuate nearby residents. The West Rest Haven nursing home, which was heavily damaged, removed 133 residents, many hobbled or in wheelchairs.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Reyes said it was "with a heavy heart" that he confirmed 12 bodies had been pulled from the area of the plant explosion.
Officials said that at least 150 homes had been destroyed. They have searched all but 25 homes for bodies and expect to finish the task Friday morning. At least three rescue trucks and one fire truck were also destroyed, an indication of how many firefighters had rushed to the scene Wednesday to fight the fire that was burning in the fertilizer facility.
Andrea Jones, 40, lived in the apartment building destroyed by the blast. She'd been standing outside talking on her cellphone with her father and describing the fire to him when the explosion came. "It was the most horrible thing I've ever been through in my entire life," she said. "It felt like a war zone."
She ran away from the devastated building with just the clothes on her back. A "guardian angel" in a black truck sped by, threw open her door and shouted "Get in!" and they raced away from the scene.
Like many who lost homes she is staying in the Czech Inn, a local hotel, while she waits for word on when they can go back into their neighborhood. "I don't think I can go back into our apartment," she said. "I'm going to have to send my dad in. I'd just get too emotional. It was all too close."
Bill and Polly Killough had just sat down to watch TV when a powerful blast roared through their living room, blowing open the front door, bursting windows and collapsing the roof on top of them.
Figuring it must be a tornado, Polly, 64, and her husband clawed their way out of the debris. But looking around, all she could see was devastation. What she saw resembled a war zone.
"Now I know what soldiers go through," she said. "In an instant — just total destruction."
Federal and state investigators were awaiting clearance to enter the blast area to search for clues to the cause of both the initial fire and explosions. "It's still too hot to get in there," Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokeswoman Franceska Perot said. There was no indication of foul play.
With destruction so vast, it was well into Thursday before officials could comprehend and then describe the scope of the tragedy. It arrived on a dark week in America, one in which terror struck Boston, poison-laced letters rattled Washington, and Americans pause to recall the anniversaries of the Virginia Tech massacre and Oklahoma City bombing.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who toured the ravaged town, said railroad tracks to the west of the blast site were fused together from the unimaginable heat. He also saw a leveled playground and an "utterly destroyed" apartment building.
Emergency teams were combing through mountains of debris in a devastated four-block area in hopes of finding survivors after the explosion and fireball engulfed and destroyed homes, businesses, a school and nursing home.
Those killed include members of the West Volunteer Fire Department who were trying to put out the initial blaze, EMS workers and an off-duty Dallas firefighter, the mayor said.
"It's just a tragic, tragic incident," Muska said.
The Dallas Fire-Rescue department said Capt. Kenny Harris, who was at his home in West and joined local volunteer firefighters in battling the blaze at West Fertilizer Co., was killed. Harris, 52, was the married father of three grown sons.
The rest of the fatalities include residents who were in nearby homes when the explosion ripped through town, leveling homes and devastating neighborhoods, Muska said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, declaring the town a disaster area, said the earthquake-like explosion will likely affect every citizen of this tightly knit community of some 2,500 people located just off Interstate 35. He said President Obama called him from Air Force One en route to Boston on Thursday to offer federal assistance.
Emergency teams had responded to a fire call at the plant at 7:29 p.m. The explosion erupted 24 minutes later, as the firefighters, police and paramedics were battling the blaze and attempting to evacuate nearby residents. The West Rest Haven nursing home, which was heavily damaged, removed 133 residents, many hobbled or in wheelchairs.
Source : UsaToday
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