a plant in the u.s. state of texas with hundreds more left seriously injured. fire is still raging after the explosion in the texan town of west with many buildings leveled and local residents advised to evacuate from the area. and i welcome you watching our take with me andrew from. now a reminder of our breaking news this hour seventy people have reportedly been killed in splosion at a fertilizer plant in the u.s. state of texas hundreds more injured and local residents have been advised to evacuate from the area in the time of west just north of waco why fighters ambulances and helicopters supporter at the scene eyewitnesses say fire took out

apartment complex's schools and houses as this material teams have been dispatched to tackle the aftermath of the explosion the cause of the blast is not yet known we'll bring you more information on this developing story as we get it the social media sphere is now bursting with comments on the tragedy eyewitnesses have been posting some of their footage and snapshots of the blast seen these images from twitter which uses are of course actively using to discuss the disaster the massive smoke cloud from the blast was pictured by several people and images of the mayhem in the area surrounding the plant are also being made available the some of the pictures that have been appearing on twitter and from local news and news media that just gives you an indication of the size of the blast and the plume of smoke. grew above the plant when it exploded. it

isn't yet known what caused the blast the initial reports that firefighters were at the scene for an initial fire and then early you may have seen in our headlines a second explosion a huge explosion then took place. seventy people have been reported killed so four so far and hundreds have been injured but we're still waiting to get a definitive number at the moment from emergency services. meanwhile my own scare has gripped america off the letters laced with poison were sent to president obama and other officials the deadly packages were intercepted by authorities and the man has been arrested in mississippi in connection with the case i should say the suspect is well known as a frequent lesser wrong to lawmakers so government offices across the u.s. have also been looked down over the suspicious packages comes just days after the

deadly boston bombing and the post nine eleven. attacks which killed several people authorities say video footage from boston has helped him point to potential suspects but they have not been identified and no arrests have been my one americans have given up some liberties in exchange for tighter security in the last decade if you leave the safe will for his own teams report reports what we know so far and what the f.b.i. and secret service has disclosed is that a letter addressed to president barack obama contained a substance. that is considered a poisonous substance that according to preliminary tests the letter that was addressed to him. was opened intercepted on tuesday it included that poisonous toxin some would argue that all these increased levels of security and and encroaching on civil liberties which critics say the u.s.

does has been a waste of money we should also remember that when u.s. president barack obama addressed the nation and finally called the boston marathon bombings a terrorist attack he said he doesn't know who is behind the attacks and why they would they would execute such an attack by a suspect in a perpetrator will be brought to justice what that indicates is the fact that the united states at this point can't pinpoint an enemy it's not like how it was in the aftermath of. the aftermath of the september eleventh attacks there is no osama bin laden any more that u.s. officials point a finger at and between september eleventh and now the u.s. has waged two very long wars also participated in military interventions and many experts would argue has created many many enemies all over the world so now at this point the u.s. can't pinpoint its enemy they do not know if the person or people behind the boston

marathon bombings is someone that is located domestically is someone that's working with of foreign organization they do not know and i think that puts many would argue that that puts the united states at a major disadvantage a reminder breaking news that people have reportedly been killed in explosion at a fertilizer plant in the u.s. state of texas hundreds more are injured and local residents have been advised to evacuate from the area in the time of west just north of waco firefighters number and heavy coat to support are at the scene witnesses four to cut apartment complex and schools nearby. we. we now have pictures we believe of state officials giving comments what's happened let's i believe we can listen to what they say that.

the firefighters are not only fighting the fire right now so it's still smoldering a little bit there's not a large flames but they're there in the area but they cannot get close to do the toxic fumes that are coming off of it right now you do you do if you don't deploy there is they've cleared the area i think it was about eight to ten block area that player and they've moved people even back further so half of that town over there are totally totally evacuated what we're worried about now is when the north coast of the northern come through the night when the north wind changes will not be met by kuwait on the other side of town. on the side of this region it will be on as ominous not be there i asked no comment at this point let us get more of the i'm asian once we get there we'll come back i will give you what we can make i know that they're all going to mean question you know we got got to get told me if you will you're going to get from formal recognition deal we'll see you know like they're like you think you know we're here for those or just for the.

well as we're saying massive explosion has hit a fertilizer plant in texas reportedly killing seventy people and injuring over one hundred that was a state official giving his comments then we can i cross live. in the states. gani thanks for joining us what more can you tell us about the rescue efforts at the moment. well andrew of course rescue services are trying to get to the homes that were flattened by this explosion because. reportedly there are many many people underneath there dozens of buildings nearby collapsed after the explosion and that's how big it was it was near a residential area we hear about apartment buildings about a nursing home that was engulfed the fire and that's what witnesses the survivor and then the helicopter footage that we see of this small town of west texas where

the plant was it though the whole area is engulfed in fire local media reports dozens of fatalities a two confirmed deaths at the moment that is as of this moment but they are being treated but there could be more considering the impact of the explosion as people are being treated on a nearby football field probably you saw the footage there they fear another explosion apparently there is one fertilizer tank that is still intact at the plant you have a massive fire there and it's not just the fire but also the air the cloud of smoke mixed with toxic chemicals and we know that. it's blowing in the direction of another small town. nearby hospitals we're told to prove to to be prepared to receive a very large number of injured witnesses say it was as if a bomb went off we really have no information as to what caused this explosion it could be it could be an accident it could be anything but we have no information on

that again it could just be that we have seen footage mobile phone footage this being presented on twitter and other social media outlets showing an initial fire it appears and then there was a huge explosion. local media seem to suggest that the planned in response to this initial fire and then has caused. this devastating scene and this massive explosion you aware of that too if you heard anything about that. well i haven't but what i heard about was that they that that helicopters were grounded for for for a while because of the of the smoke because of the explosion so. the initial response yes they rushed into the area but. then we don't know to what extent they were they were able to to carry out rescue work because because of the gains or

that explosion. you mentioned that many buildings were affected there's a lot of collateral many buildings collapsed because of the power of this blast do we understand that people are still trapped exactly exactly and that is. the one and first concern that have to that. they are not able to get to these people in a timely manner and this is their primary concern at the moment this is from what they were saying and what about the only witnesses if you could only witness accounts what's happened we've seen the footage it is horrific isn't it the what what have people been coming out and saying to the media well one of the witnesses saw an apartment building. a nursing home in gulf and fire another one said that it was as if a bomb went off then of the local sheriff said that the area looks like

a war zone because of the all the and people injured so it's very tragic the footage that we're getting the the accounts of eye witnesses that we're getting . a guinea in terms of the. know anything about this for the plant and the safety record of the. well i was listening to to one of the workers there interviewed. and he was saying that there were about forty people working there so actually i don't have much information about the plant at the moment but they were asking how many people could be could be there it's really not clear at the moment how many people there were near the plant how many people in that residential area by the plant but what

is clear that there will be a large number of injured. dad of deaths fatalities of casualties here so it's very very much on clear at the moment and the timing of this and of the impact of this explosion and the timing of this exactly when this because that was in the evening wasn't it in local time is something like ten to eight in the evening and that it happened at around seven seven thirty local time local time seven thirty and it was the end of their working day but at the same time explosion was so big that he had to hit a residential area nearby so maybe it was not it affected lots of people who were near the plant to just live there so we hear about dozens of buildings flattened by

this explosion residential buildings so people went home and they were just nearby in this town of west in texas and obviously lots of lots of people were affected by this ok so we can see from the pictures say that emergency services are at the scene and continue to be there for many hours but what's happening in terms of the evacuation where are people being moved to. well people are being evacuated because there is the danger of this second blast there think they are saying that there is this one fertilizer tank that is still intact and you realize that there is a huge fire going on and that tank may eventually explode and just. people hope that this will the will never happen but still. we see the footage of people being treated in an urgent matter on this football field but they are being taken of those with very serious injuries are being taken to nearby hospitals

hospitals are told to to be prepared for very large numbers of injured and the numbers that we have now those are very preliminary numbers and. they are expected to go up at this point and. again we thank you very much for that. from the states on the latest on the explosion of the fertilizer plant in texas which is believed or it's been reported that up to seventy people have been killed in that explosion although we're still waiting for official confirmation on a definitive number. well hundreds more are injured and local residents have been advised to evacuate from the area in the town of west just north of waco firefighters number it says and helicopter support or at the same as you've seen there from the footage our witnesses say that the fire department so the fire did take at apartment complexes and schools and houses and you can see the size of that

secondary blast you can just see the immense power from that explosion and the resulting devastation that was caused we are still unaware of the cause of this blast were initial reports that fire crews were saying from the initial fire and then that huge explosion took place but at the moment we're still trying to. piece things together of of what caused this but we can say that the town has been evacuated many people are being treated for injuries and soon as we do get more on this we will give it to you well the social media sphere is now bursting with comments on the tragedy eyewitnesses have been posting some of their footage and snapshots of the blast seeing these images from twitter which uses are of course actively using to discuss this disaster that just showing the huge plume of smoke billowed above the plant after the blast these pictures taken several people were able to take images pictures of the blast shortly afterwards and the mayhem that

surrounded the area can be seen there and the devastation where we are joined now. by our correspondent sean thomas i believe on the phone. children are you able to see haney yes i can i can injure children hearing about eyewitnesses comparing things will. that society in texas to me that's the site texans are nice to all the way. that is true if you think about where this takes place it's about eighteen miles north of waco texas which was made famous by the david koresh fire incidentally years and years ago however you know this is a rural area known for farming known for oil. basically not used to these big types of explosions on one hand now you know fertilizer is a dangerous component so people who live around these places are made aware of

hazardous films that could possibly come from the area and then fact that's one of the dangers that we're worried about right now specifically and hydrous ammonia which has people in the area have been warned about and they are evacuating worried about the gas which can be deadly and can cause a fixation and then also grain elevators they're used to grain elevator explosions which can be very deadly and very devastating so there is even in agriculture in that industry the chance of explosions but when something like this happens it's very rare and of course it takes its toll on any community that has to go through something like this not shown you've lived in texas haven't you not liable to give us this thing sight but what you know is the area that regime with a small area there's only so much they can see from doing when they can and sign much for something like this conduct generally they are being stretched the limits and we'll be waiting for the reinforcements land well indeed and as you mentioned

and as you pointed out there have been a tree on area that's been set aside where they can accept some of the most sophisticated bore more devastating injuries and then kind of see who need the most medical. attendant asked. clear spot all that's happening on a football field without a local school. they have enlisted helicopters that can basically act as an airlift from the scene to the hospital in waco texas you've got waco to the south and you've got to stand up to the north so between these two relatively larger areas you know you still have a ways to get the people from this rural area to the places where they can get the treatment that they need with such a devastating blast and just to give us an idea of the geography sean how long would it take then assholes and pay something like wilson's. if you're going you know the speed limit you're looking at maybe

a twenty minute drive to get to waco itself so and of course you know with emergency vehicles they can you know breaking that speed limit barrier but you're still looking at you know rule roads that have their own obstacles not always you know the easiest roads to travel but. you're looking at. about a twenty minute drive maximum before they can get to a hospital and then they have to be assessed once they get that hospital as well. i didn't say yes sorry killen's you are going to say we just know that the waco hospital is called anticipate at least one hundred injured people we know that that number is expected to increase and we know that any hospital big or small in the area even clinics that can operate are going to be on standby to be taking as many people as they can and in terms of just giving a general picture of the community that has been devastated hair. what was the size of this community in town earth can a community deal with something like this well you know that's one of the things we

actually seen it on a much larger scale in boston is that when large events like this happen people in communities large and small come together to get done what they needed to get done however this is just a small farming town. you know friends neighbors everybody know they know each other they all work for the same companies they all eat at the same restaurants it's a very very small tight tight knit community and it's just one of few incorporated towns it's not even a small city if you will it's just a small little town in texas. very rational rathole if you will. and. you're giving your inside because you have lived in texas haven't you we did hear from the state officials earlier talking about the situation what sort of message do you think that we're trying to give the community for. well i think you know when you have an instance like this you have a right of state of the of the initial instance which people respond to which is

the explosion and trying to figure out exactly what happened and then you have the tree arch and putting the emergency plans into place and which is the stage that you're seeing now and that's why you see a football field as a staging point for medical evacuations and what have you and then you're going to have to get through this second part of the emergency because if you look at the blast of being the first an initial emergency then you have the second aspect which is the possibility of this other explosion happening with this other kind which is still intact after that then you have the you know the possibility of this chemical gas wave coming through so once you get through the dangerous part then you start to assess the situation and the community have to come together to see how do we move forward to structure the pieces to bring the community back together and that's when you start talking about counseling rebuilding the resorts in the community needs in order to survive in the coming days weeks and months. ok we

think we will leave it there when people come back you know i'm sure more comments on this do have some questions a local saidnaya. of disdain that you can stay on local. a. president let's hear what she says hearing you now for your. i'm going to leave ok occupy no media for. really just returning to what i sort of. ok i will be able to. do something because he's on the scene trying to interview witnesses i'm residents who live in the town of west just north of waco where the explosion took place i'm just trying to listen in. to talk you to see if we can hear any more. in the meantime to go back to sean thomas artie's correspondent who has lived in

texas we've been talking to him just a couple of minutes ago he was explaining how an incident like this would devastate such a small community sean can you hear us again. we've just been seeing some local footage. local media trying to speak to residents there obviously people very distressed we can say strains of ambulances and fire engines also at the scene. just just from your perspective sean what would be the sort of response from america in terms of the given that we've had the boston bombings given that we've had another massive tragedy what do you expect. well i expect people not just in texas but from around the country to come together to show their support for the people of this small town in texas if you look at what happened in boston if you look at what happened with previous tragedies even with the sandy

hook tragedy up in connecticut back in december the country does what they can to come together because this is a small town just north of waco is not unlike many towns all across the country they have the same types of businesses the same type of work ethic the same small town attitude and people living in colorado people living in virginia in florida they all have a sense of who the people are who live there so when they see a tragedy like this strike they imagine their own family they imagine their own community and they really come together to see what kind of support so on a local level what i would expect is i would expect the community to come together you will see candlelight vigils you'll see the church communities coming together church to what they can do to give the people who are directly affected their support then you'll also see counselors coming in from other parts of the country and facts you might have that you could expect to see people who have experience

with the nine eleven tragedies in new york people who are familiar with what it takes to go to church agreed to go through looking for bodies people who have been there to counsel people in criminal situation coming to this small town to help the people who have survived this tragedy kind of grass. the next level. show well just to get paper that will keep you on the line national not just to keep people updated if they're looking at these pictures i'm wondering what he's getting on that was a huge explosion at a fertilizer plant in the town of west which is just north of waco texas local reports of. yes that seventy people were killed as a result of this blast we understand that officially it appears the number is so far. we believe that many many dozens more have been seriously injured sean thomas has been always on the phone with us now to explain. the devastation in

the community like this he has lived in texas for a large part of his life and was trying to explain that the community. has been used to explosions in the past but clearly nothing on this this industrial scale it is an agricultural area this was a fertilizer plant that exploded something like seven thirty in the evening local time it caused a huge amount of collateral damage it's not just the plant that was affected many many buildings around this scene were completely demolished were reports that a nursing home also collapse and it's believe people are trapped in that building too so it's not just the plant that you're looking at there it is the surrounding area that is of people have been evacuated the risk of failure there are fears of a potential explosion from this plant there also toxic fim spewing from this plant and it's and it's feared that they may spread to nearby towns to this is the moment

of the second explosion we believe a person was filming obviously knocked off their feet by the power of that explosion emergency services have been here for a number of hours a few hours trying to do what they can to put out the fire to contain the fire and to also made the potential release of toxic fumes safe. not sure if i can just bring you back in we are looking at these pictures live pictures that we're getting from texas saying it's still one of mass devastation but tell us a little bit more about what you believe. people who want affect you can actually be doing to help we know that the response is massive for the boston bombings i can tell us a little bit more about the response not many from the national media and from the government if you've heard of any well certainly one thing that's you're going to see is going to see anyone who can help who. will try to help in any way that they

can so you're going to see lots of people trying to gather blanket food supplies for the people who've been affected by this tragedy a lot of people going to the red cross or to hospitals trying to give blood one thing that i would stress is important is that people should try and pay attention to the authorities and see what is actually needed before trying to go down and help because one thing that could happen and has happened in past tragedies is people try and rush down to the scene or try and rush down to where they think they can be a help but actually their presence could be hindering the authorities in trying to set up the appropriate type of response so people who are interested in getting some sort of aid to these people in west texas need to pay attention to the television to the radio to the local authorities who are mounting the recovery effort to see what is actually needed because people when they see a tragedy like this.