VIDEO: Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion; 4-Block Area “Totally Decimated”; Hundreds Injured or Dead

A fertilizer plant explosion rocked a Texas town Wednesday night leaving countless dead or injured and leaving a town in utter chaos.  Images of fireballs and plumes of smoke billowing out of a Texas fertilizer plant instantly sent a sense of horror racing down my spine as I first caught a glimpse of the massive explosion that devastated the town of West just north of Waco Wednesday night.  Could it be terrorism?  If not, then what?  Terrible accident?  I couldn’t help but pray for the latter.  Does an accident make the tragedy any less, well… tragic?

I suppose by the morning we’ll have a better sense of things – what caused the explosion and the total casualty count.  I look forward to neither.  Early reports are that as many as 70 are feared dead and hundreds more injured.  With daylight, I’d expect that number to grow along with a sense of the destruction.

According to reports, firefighters were originally called to the plant to put out a “small fire” around 7 p.m. and were present when the explosion occurred just under an hour later.  Nearby buildings and homes were toppled and the damage extended far beyond the limits of the plant.

Video of the explosion was captured by an onlooker videotaping the fire at the plant.  If you need a sense of how massive this explosion was, this video is all that you will need…

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From the Associated Press via Drudge:  The explosion at West Fertilizer in West, a community about 20 miles north of Waco, happened shortly before 8 p.m. and could be heard as far away as Waxahachie, 45 miles to the north. It sent flames shooting high into the night sky and rained burning embers, shrapnel and debris down on shocked and frightened residents.

A member of the city council, Al Vanek, said a four-block area around the explosion was “totally decimated.” Other witnesses compared the scene to that of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and authorities said the plant made materials similar to that used to fuel the bomb that tore apart that city’s Murrah Federal Building.

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The post VIDEO: Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion; 4-Block Area “Totally Decimated”; Hundreds Injured or Dead appeared first on REPUBLICAN REDEFINED.