Hundreds injured in explosion at Texas fertilizer plant

 

Hundreds injured in explosion 

at Texas fertilizer plant

April 17, 2013

near Waco

 

Like a nuclear blast 

  Texas plant explosion 

registered as 2.1 earthquake 

 

 

Dozens of people were injured and numerous buildings were damaged in a large explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas, according to local authorities and media reports.About 60 people were being treated at Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, KWTX-TV of Waco reported. Others were being treated at a local community center.The Waco Department of Public Safety told NBC 5 of Dallas that many of the injuries were severe in the blast, which occurred about 7:50 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET) at the West Fertilizer plant in the small town of West, about 20 miles north of Waco. The station said the explosion occurred while firefighters were at the plant on an earlier fire call.

President Barack Obama issued an emergency declaration for Texas on Friday to help the state cope with the fallout from a deadly fertilizer plant explosion.The order authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to "identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency."