UPDATE: EMS Director Says 60 To 70 Dead In West Explosion

kwtx ^ | 4/17/13 | staff

[Nachum]

WACO (April 17, 2013)--West EMS Director Dr. George Smith says as many as 60 or 70 people died and at least 100 were injured Wednesday night in a fertilizer plant explosion in West.

A rescuer earlier said he knew of five deaths.

West Mayor Tommy Muska said at a news conference however, that he doesn't yet know how many people were hurt or killed in the blast explosion.

He said there was a fire at the West Fertilizer plant before the explosion.

[freekitty]

I agree with what you say; but I stand with what I said.

[Sir Napsalot]

You think Obama will visit Texas after Boston?

[GeronL]

local TV news saying 5-15 dead

which is a lot better than 60 to 70

[tomkat]

All that contact info being made available leads one to think that it IS a mass casualty situation     :-(

[manc]

not news worthy for MSLSD, they’re talking guns and background checks all morning, to them it’s a bunch of southern republican voters , mainly white in a small town so it’s not worth covering.
Boston on the other hand is awful as is the failed background checks.

How can anyone take the radical left wing nut networks seriously and call them serious news is beyond me

[manc]

bammy and his admin as well as MSLSD are talking about the cowards who never voted for their gun bill, calling them names, calling NRA are traitors, TX is a southern state, a red state, with a small town and they couldn’t careless about southerners, midwestern more southern small towns or the lives which are lost.

To them it’s not Boston, Chicago or NY city so they don’t care

[manc]

nope, Boston is a northern liberal yuppie elitist city though mostly white people,
TX is a southern republican state and this happened in a small town made up of mostly white people.

MSLSD has not even covered the explosion , instead they’re talking about the failed gun bill and going nuts about it

[Sir Napsalot]

Thanks for replying.

My earlier question was rhetorical.

[Joe 6-pack]

"local TV news saying 5-15 dead...which is a lot better than 60 to 70"

I'm wondering if somebody may have misheard "16 - 17" and reported it as "60 - 70".

[stevie_d_64]

Sure, no prob...

[Mrs. P]

If he cares about these people, he will stay away. Just what they don’t need right now is a presidential visit with all the problems it will add.

So I guess that means that he will be there ASAP.

[Vigilanteman]

Somewhere in the scriptures there is a verse which says something like “When the wicked rule, the people mourn.”

[TexanByBirth]

Uh, who in their right mind would allow a middle school, nursing home, apartments anywhere in the vicinity of a fertilizer plant knowing the energy potential involved?

West is a small rural farming community. It is surrounded by miles of rich farm land. Fertilizer is used throughout the area. I would venture a guess that the fertilizer plant was there a long time before the middle school, nursing home and apartments were ever built.

With I-35 running north and south through the middle of town, there is not a lot of places to build except east and west out into what was farm land. I guarantee you the people in West didn't the danger a second thought.

[TexanByBirth]

Unfortunately among the dead are six volunteer firefighters and two paramedics.

An additional three firefighters are still missing.

[listenhillary]

I think there was discussion in congress of regulating, tracking ammonia nitrate purchases. Not sure if it was implemented by the DHS or not.

[Nachum]

You think Obama will visit Texas after Boston?

Sure. Sometime before the next election :(

[amom]

Community reaching out to mass of people displaced is what that list tells me. Opening hearts and doors. When I was at Katrina the most effective shelters were those run by the community churches and groups. They fed us very well when I was in their local too! Mostly I ate MREs though...which made the hot cooked meals even better. Lol.

[uncommonsense]

I guess the "good" new is that it could have been worse. It looks like the explosion was almost entirely shaped west and some east. To the east, there are only a few homes. To the west (toward I35), there was a large building that wasn't occupied. Video here:

VIDEO: Day after: View over West after explosion

That was a MONSTER explosion! God bless the town of West, TX and everyone who's helping the recovery!

[MEG33]

30 t0 40 people missing including firefighters..I am watching them try to search that devastated apartment building and it is very tedious slow going..I think they had started evacuating that apartment bldg. because of the fire before the explosion.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

Joe Btfsplk . . .