A massive explosion at a fertiliser plant in Texas has devastated a town, levelling buildings, setting others on fire and causing more than 150 casualties.
The blast shook the earth and rolled a huge fireball through the town of West at about 8pm local time on Wednesday (video), showering burning debris and shrapnel over a five-block radius.
"It was a like a nuclear bomb went off," the mayor, Tommy Muska, told reporters. "Big old mushroom cloud. There are a lot of people that got hurt. There are a lot of people that will not be here tomorrow."
CNN reported two emergency workers killed, a death toll which authorities feared will rise sharply. More than 150 people were treated for injuries at the local hospital as well as at Waco, 18 miles away, and Dallas, 80 miles away.
Units from 30 fire departments brought the blaze at the West Fertilizer Company plant under control by midnight. Fears that a second fertiliser tank might explode receded but authorities continued to evacuate residents amid concern about toxic fumes.
David Argueta, vice-president of operations at Waco's Hillcrest Baptist medical centre, said staff had treated lacerations and orthopaedic-type injuries. "We are being told that we have seen most of the patients, and it's now turned into a search-and-rescue operation on scene."
A spokesman for the Texas department of public safety, DL Wilson, told a press conference the blast had probably caused hundreds of wounded and some deaths. "We do have confirmed fatalities. The number is not current yet. It could go up by the minute. We're in there searching the area right now and making sure that it's safe."
A nursing home had collapsed and people were believed trapped inside, he said. The scale of damage and number of casualties would become clearer with sunrise, he said.
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