Twelve bodies recovered in West, TX fertilizer plant explosion; 11 were first responders
An aerial photo of law enforcement and rescue personnel searching the wreckage of an apartment complex from the explosion of the West Fertilizer plant on Thursday. (Credit: Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool/AP)
The bodies of 12 people have been recovered following the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion on Wednesday that leveled surrounding neighborhoods and left approximately 200 other people injured.
Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Reyes confirmed "with a heavy heart" that 12 bodies had been pulled from the area of the plant explosion in West, roughly 20 miles north of Waco. Long before investigators released an official statement, the names of the dead were circulating throughout the town of 2,800, with the identities of the victims rumored to include a small group of firefighters and other first responders who may have rushed toward the plant to battle a pre-explosion blaze.
Though Reyes said he could not confirm the identities of those killed, NPR's Morning Edition is reporting that, of the 12 bodies recovered, 11 were those of first responders.
Rescue crews spent much of the day after Wednesday night's blast scouring the town for survivors, and Reyes confirms that these efforts are ongoing, adding that authorities have searched and cleared 150 buildings so far, with another 25 remaining to be examined.
Meanwhile, the survivors have already begun mourning their fallen heroes at a service at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church.
"We know everyone that was there first, in the beginning," said Christina Rodarte, 46, a resident of West for 27 years. "There's no words for it. It is a small community, and everyone knows the first responders, because anytime there's anything going on, the fire department is right there, all volunteer."
Rodarte knew one of the victims, a man who has been identified as Kenny Harris, a 52-year-old captain in the Dallas Fire Department who lived south of West. He was off duty at the time of the incident at the fertilizer plant, but responded to the pre-explosion fire to help, according to an official statement from the city of Dallas.
In the aftermath of the explosion, the landscape of West has been irrevocably altered. An apartment complex was destroyed, a school ravaged by fire, and a nursing home leveled. Residents were kept out of the four to five-block radius of the blast, where search-and-rescue teams continue to sift through rubble. Emergency workers stated that some residents would be let closer to their homes today, provided that there is no immediate threat to their safety.
"I had an expectation of what I would see, but what I saw went beyond my expectations in a bad way," said Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, following his visit to the ruins of West. "It is very disturbing to see the site."
Via: Denver Post
