‘Like a nuclear bomb’: Deadly fertilizer plant blast devastates Texas town
(CNN) — The full extent of the devastation will have to wait until the light of day Thursday. But residents of the small Texas town of West already know what to expect.
“There are a lot of people that got hurt,” West Mayor Tommy Muska forewarned Wednesday night. “There are a lot of people that will not be here tomorrow.”
A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant on the edge of the town killed an estimated five to 15 people, wounded more than 160, leveled dozens of homes and prompted authorities to evacuate half their community of 2,800.
“It was like a nuclear bomb went off,” Muska said. “Big old mushroom cloud.”
The Wednesday night blast shook houses 50 miles away and measured as a 2.1-magnitude seismic event, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Officials offered differing figures for the death toll, with Sgt. William Patrick Swanton of the nearby Waco Police Department saying between five and 15 people had died.
But fire officials fear that the number of casualties could rise as high as 60 to 70 dead, said Dr. George Smith, the emergency management system director of the city.
Watch fertilizer plant explode
Massive devastation after Texas explosion
Massive emergency response to explosion
Texas officials expect heavy casualties
Woman’s houses destroyed, dog killed
About 2 minutes of seismograph shows a first burst during the explosion and a second burst from the sound wave.
About 2 minutes of seismograph shows a first burst during the explosion and a second burst from the sound wave.
“That’s a really rough number, I’m getting that figure from firefighters, we don’t know yet,” he said. “We have two EMS personnel that are dead for sure, and there may be three firefighters that are dead.”
Early Thursday morning, firefighters painstakingly combed through houses, many reduced to rubble.
“(It’s) massive — just like Iraq. Just like the Murrah (Federal) Building in Oklahoma City,” said D.L. Wilson of the Texas public safety department.
What caused the explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. was not immediately known. But its location — next to an apartment complex, a nursing home and a middle school — did not help matters.
The blast stripped the apartment complex, with 50 units, of its walls and windows. “It was just a skeleton standing up,” Wilson said.
The nursing home, with 133 residents, was quickly evacuated.
“Until we know this is an accident we will conduct this as a crime scene,” Swanton said. “Nothing at this point indicates we have had criminal activity, but we are not ruling that out.”爱马，太长蘑菇云是原子弹吗？你读一遍吧。。字数太多。。
关键还不懂英语〜读快点就不显得长了不喜欢读书压大?哪位善人，给翻译下呗去看看中文的关于美国化肥厂爆炸的报道，就等看了这篇英文报道一楼的翻译文本：
“像核Bomb“：德州小镇化肥厂致命的爆炸
（CNN） – 完整的事故报告要等到周四，但德州小镇的居民已经知道没什么好消息了。
“有很多人受伤，”市长Tommy 周三晚上事先警告说 “有很多的人，或许明天将不会出现了。”
该镇边缘地区的某化肥厂发生的强烈爆炸导致5至15人死亡，160多人受伤，有几十家居民的房屋被夷为平地，当局紧急疏散该地区一半的人口。
“像核爆炸，”他说。 “天空中升起一朵巨大的蘑菇云。”
周三晚上的爆炸使50英里远的地方都有震感，根据美国地质调查局测量，相当于2.1级地震。
官方发布的伤亡数据有所不同，但是威廉·帕特里克·斯旺顿附近的韦科警察局说有5到15人死。
但消防官员担心，伤亡人数可能会高达60％至70%，城市应急管理体系主任乔治·史密斯博士受访时说。
关注化肥厂爆炸
德州爆炸后的巨大破坏
大规模爆炸的应急响应
得克萨斯州官员预计伤亡惨重
女人的房屋被摧毁，狗被杀
约2分钟的地动仪显示爆炸过程中的第一次脉冲波和第二次声波。
“这是一个非常粗略的数字，我从消防队员那里得知这个数字，但我们还不确定，”他说。 “我们有两个EMS人确定都死了，另外可能有三个消防队员死了。”
周四凌晨，消防队员仔细搜索，当地很多房屋已经沦为废墟。
“（这是）大规模的 – 就像伊拉克、像默拉联邦大楼”在得克萨斯州公共安全部门工作的威尔逊说。
爆炸事故原因尚不清楚。在它附近的公寓大楼，养老院和一所中学损失惨重。
爆炸剥离的公寓大楼，有50个单位，墙壁和窗户都遭到破坏。 “只剩下一个骨架了，”威尔逊说。
在敬老院，有133户居民，被迅速疏散。
“除非确认是一次意外，否则将作为犯罪现场进行调查，”，斯旺顿说。 “虽然没有证据表明有犯罪活动，但我们不排除这个可能。”得罪人多了吧宝爸v5空姐你太长了这个厂被报之前也发生过事故啊多行不义必自闭啊:D
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