Death Toll Rises to 14 After Texas Blast
Source: New York Times
Two days after the explosion at a fertilizer plant in this town sliced by a busy railroad and highway in Central Texas, the death toll rose to 14, but with the search of damaged structures nearly finished by Friday afternoon, only a few people were still presumed missing, local and county officials said.
Earlier in the day, after he had toured the site, Senator John Cornyn of Texas said that 60 people remained unaccounted for, an estimate that included many people who had been reported missing by relatives unable to locate them immediately after the blast. But Judge Scott Felton of McLennan County, who joined Gov. Rick Perry at an afternoon news conference, said that he would be “surprised if it’s more than a few.”
Mr. Perry said there was “absolute devastation” in the area around the fertilizer plant, adding, “It’s going to be a long recovery.” Through the night and much of the day, the authorities removed bodies from the rubble, most of them firefighters and other emergency responders who were the first to arrive at the plant. One of them was Capt. Kenny Harris of the Dallas Fire-Rescue, a married father of three who had been off-duty when he learned of the fire and went there to help, a spokesman for Dallas Fire-Rescue said.
Sgt. Jason Reyes of the Texas Department of Public Safety said that about 200 people were injured and that at least 50 homes were damaged by the explosion, which was caused by a fire inside the plant on Wednesday evening. The plant is surrounded by houses, a 50-unit apartment complex, three schools and a nursing home.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/us/texas-explosion.html
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I am in awe of - and eternally grateful for - those who run towards danger while most run away. They are truly heroes.
