'Like a nuclear bomb': Deadly fertilizer plant blast devastates Texas town

Scores of people are reported injured and others are trapped in burning buildings after a huge explosion at a fertiliser plant near Waco in the US state of Texas.

66 injured people including 38 who were seriously hurt; Glenn A Robinson, chief executive of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco

The blast at the West Fertilizer plant was reported at 19:50 (00:50 GMT).

Firefighters, ambulances and six helicopters have been mobilised to deal with the situation.

Several buildings are reported to be on fire, some of them in neighbouring residential areas, KWTX-TV reported.

The Waco Tribune-Herald reported that firefighters had been trying to put out a fire at the plant when the explosion happened, and that some were among those injured.

The blast happened in West, a town of about 2,700 people some 20 miles (32km) north of Waco.
Posted by Unknown 4/18/2013