Many feared dead in US fertilizer plant blast

A massive blast ripped through a fertilizer plant in Texas, killing many people and injuring hundreds of others as many buildings were destroyed after the factory exploded in a massive fireball.

The blast took place last night at the West Fertilizer plant in the town of West, outside Waco, with more than 130 people evacuated from a nearby nursing home, and at least 100 patients admitted to hospitals following the incident."It's like a nuclear bomb went off," West Mayor Tommy Muska was quoted by the CNN as saying.

Some local media reports put the death toll to about 70.

West emergency services Director Dr George Smith said earlier that as many as 60 or 70 people died in the blast, but Department of Public Safety spokesman D L. Wilson said during a news conference that the number of dead is unknown."We do have confirmed fatalities," Wilson was quoted by local KWTX TV as saying.

Authorities are going door to door in the area checking on residents. The explosion, started as a structure fire and later was followed by explosion,

The blast knocked out power to a large area surrounding the plant.

Muska told reporters that his city of about 2,800 residents needs "your prayers."We've got a lot of people who are hurt, and there's a lot of people, I'm sure, who aren't gonna be here tomorrow," Muska said. "We're gonna search for everybody. We're gonna make sure everybody's accounted for. That's the most important thing right now."

A member of the city council, Al Vanek, said there is a four-block area around the explosion "that is totally decimated."

Wilson said the damage was comparable to the destruction caused by the 1995 bomb blast that destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Muska said that about six firefighters were unaccounted for and that 131 people were safely evacuated from a local nursing home, according to Waco Tribune.