two people are confirmed dead after a blast ripped through a fertilizer plant in the u.s. state of texas with one hundred left seriously injured. are still raging after the explosion in the texan town of west with many buildings leveled and local residents advised to evacuate from the area. well. let's get the latest now from. in the states. the fertilizer plant in the town of west just north of waco what do we know about the numbers at the moment danny what can you tell us. well andrew we have two people confirmed dead in this in this explosion and dozens more injured. we are getting reports that over one hundred seventy people are injured at the

moment. dozens of people at the hospital right now of course officials are being very cautious confirming fatalities there as is always the case after explosions like this after tragedies like this we have been getting conflicting reports initially local media reported at least seventy people dead in this explosion judging by the impact that the explosion had the number to two people confirmed dead is is likely to. going to go up but it is going to be higher but again we the dead is the number that we have confirmed at the moment by by the officials as you as you can imagine this is a huge challenge for rescue teams to go there and not just just not just because of the top seat fumes rising but also because of the possibility of another explosion

because one of the another fertilizer tank is still intact there are as firefighters as far as the first team that responded to the explosion we have at least four firefighters missing there unaccounted for possibly possibly dead and what happened at the beginning was a around seven pm local time a smaller fire broke out and of course firefighters rushed into the area and what happened fifteen minute minutes later was a huge a massive explosion that was registered as a two point one magnitude earthquake so what happened it ripped through a residential area next to the plane. with a lot of lots of buildings there there was a there was a big apartment building with over one hundred people living there there was a nursing home so officials started evacuating people from the area fearing this

other another possible explosion of this other fertilizer tank that is that is at the plant and we don't know as far as the cause of what happened of the explosion we have nothing confirmed at the moment ok and there is concern is in the gani about the a toxic landed toxins that have been released from this thirty lines the plant after the explosion what can you tell us about the fees and what's being done well of course there is a concern we know that people are being evacuated and this is one of the things that people are being taken to the hospital with it it's not just severe burns but but also chemical inhalation so it is extremely dangerous of course people are being evacuated from the areas where the wind is blowing carrying this talks of

toxic cloud or i guess we will leave it there for the moment we'll come back to you shortly i'm sure. with an update for us in the states but also going to our tease and i'm on godin though who is in texas for a c. are you able to him. you're going to hear you know you know you heard. your plant explosion you're on the ground there what more can you tell us what's the latest in terms of casualties and what the rescue effort is doing. that's right as i mentioned earlier least two confirmed fatalities but many more are expected as many homes in the area destroyed allies or plants are now just rubble yet it is too deep dangerous for first responders to approach the rubble because there are still these toxic fumes in the air i just talked to a state trooper a few minutes ago who told me that there is still one tank of chemicals which is

still at risk burning so they are still being cautious part of the town has been evacuated because of fears of this toxicity and here authorities are keeping an eye on the winds i'm not sure if you can hear them over the phone but a very high winds tonight expected to possibly shifted me affect other areas of the town as well and in terms of the number of people that attack you mentioned that many buildings with an eternity flattened by the hype machine with they know that many people are still trapped. exactly we heard from we're from a firefighter before we got here who was talking about evacuating the areas near the fire before the explosion actually happened then after the explosion happened several buildings came down some people were able to be rescued and pulled out of there but firefighters who have been talking to the media have said that they're almost certain that there are more people trapped in the rubble yet it's still too

dangerous to go back in there because of. the toxic air still flowing through town and do we know how many people were actually in the lies upon when it exploded. we do not have a count of how many people were in there this happened around seven pm local time here in texas. not exactly sure how many people were inside of the plant what we do know is that there was a nursing home very nearby. building that many people were able to evacuate from the nursing home but another apartment building also reported to be leveled and it's been doing many people inside of the time in the neighborhood neighboring district eliza plan and immolation to this eliza plot do we know anything about the company. back a little that sort of thing. i'm sorry you're breaking up

a little bit. from what we heard here in the fertilizer plant still no cause for what caused the initial. what we have heard from firefighters is that there was initially a fire firefighter started to rush to the scene and the minutes later is when the explosion happened but just to give you a little perspective of how big an explosion it was this is a town of only twenty six hundred people only three inches before this emergency unfortunately appears many of those first responders who were responding to the initial fire may have been critically injured during the initial response to the first fire and then the explosion happened and we know how long. and to respond from as an area is what i able to come and help quickly. absolutely you know we just spoke to a crew that traveled more than eighty miles here. to west texas in order to help

there was. created a tree is just a few feet from where i'm standing and at the community center there is a tree set up at the baseball park. madmen able to give you an accurate count of how many people were treated mostly because they just seemed overwhelmed but dozens that we can definitely confirm have been transported to hospitals all over the region and like i said this is a very small town which is not equipped to support such a mass casualty situation as what happened today. is the understanding that the hospitals i think what they're being confronted with. as of right now they. have not. ever they are asking for people living in the area to slowly be donating blood in the coming days because they do know that. many people are critically wounded and will definitely

be needing a lot of blood donation in the coming days and in terms of the evacuation has taken place on many people are still left in the time the police believe that everyone should label they still staying in sections should they can you give us numbers. this is it can about twenty six hundred people the state trooper who i spoke to today said that their main focus was the north side of the town which is closer to the fertilizer plant mentioned earlier quite a windy day and a possibility that the winds may start blowing south and they may have to end up evacuating the southern part of this town as of right now still keeping an eye on the weather patterns still keeping an eye on the fire which is still emitting toxic . and their message at the moment to locals we understand the initial shortly after the explosion many people were trying to help but now the message the message is actually pretty yes despite your good will it is easy for missions and services to

operate with that help without people trying to offer assistance and is that correct. the main exit to the town has been closed at the community center at church where there are. supplies water things of that sort and some people who have evacuated here we saw some people going to go tell us but yes. these are telling people to donate blood over the next week or so but. at the same time we saw. a massive response from first responders from all over the texas. obviously. situation as responders work on the fire as medical officials try to save some of the critically wounded and one other question i'd like to ask him is because we have had people speculating and say honest to anything. that some people have said

. things. that have occurred here will bring thousands of security we cannot say what has happened at the moment but is that sort of thing being discussed on the ground where you are. ok. i believe we just lost mr going to have way. ok that was our teacher am on the who is. in texas reporting from west the town where this explosion took place this video footage shows the initial fire that took place at the plant and it is followed in a few seconds by a massive explosion that measured two point one on the richter scale according to geologists it's an explosion that ripped through many buildings that were nearby seventy homes one firefighters said had been affected also no person's home was affected one hundred thirty three people lived in that many people are still trapped at the scene and firefighters and police in emergency services are trying

to get to them at the moment but they are being hampered by fears of a third explosion which might occur in the fertilizer plant firefighters are at that. plant as we speak or to five firefighters we are told are unaccounted for we are clear it's unclear what has happened to them but they are unaccounted for but these pictures you can see to give you an indication of the scale of this disaster and even though fissions are only saying two people have died that's the official confirmation and as we have been hearing from the. correspondent r.t. correspondent in the states that is normal procedure they wait until they can identify victims before they actually give. a classified number so we can expect and do expect the death toll to be much much higher. this is a small area around about two and a half thousand people live in this town. people have been taken to hospitals in

waco which is nearby but also in houston and has been a comprehensive effort from own emergency services from surrounding areas to help this time deal with the devastation and this obvious tragedy so as we get more updates we will bring them to you of course we have got on the stand a firsthand account from a fine when he was at the scene shortly after the fire broke out i think we can hear from him. i can tell you i was there i walked through the blast area i searched some houses earlier tonight massive just like iraq just like the murray building in oklahoma city same kind of exploded so you can imagine what kind of damage we're looking out there. i know that was at least seventy five to fifty fifty to seventy five houses damaged there's apartment complex that has about fifty units in it that was completely. just skeleton standing there's

a nursing home in the area that one hundred thirty three people in the nursing home we've got them a graduated i don't know what their injuries are are there right now but all injuries have been removed from the scene and taken to local hospitals in the waco area we had numerous agencies helping us all the way from the dallas fort worth area mclennan county limestone feel bosky and all surrounding areas so we've had a great turnout. to come out to help us get through this tragedy that we've had in this small community. so that was a spokes person for the safety teams. tackling the place at the moments of the first loss of plants in west we'll show you still here in the studio with sean let's just digress slightly because there is a significant date as to what's happened almost the speaking. spooky quinson and this is the town of west texas and just eighteen miles to the south is another

small relatively small town only about one hundred twenty five thousand people now it's waco you heard the spokesperson just mention the town of waco there one of the towns that bringing in a lot of the injured from the town of west now twenty years ago almost exactly there was a massive fire related with the town of waco let me backtrack a little bit if you go back into the end of february nineteenth ninety three there was a standoff between a.t.f. agents federal agents and united states and the branch davidian and david koresh at their compound basically a cult if you will just outside of waco there was a standoff that lasted about fifty days and in fact it became known as the siege of waco at the end of that there was a small little fire fight between a.t.f. agents the f.b.i. and of these branch davidian including david koresh seventy four people killed in this massive blaze there show i would just stop you there it is fascinating let's hear now from a life press conference being given at the moment free fire fight is in the town of

west i believe we can listen in oh we lost fire but i think that there may be firefighters that are really valid or potentially along or. are still trying to turn mean obviously they were there on the right side of the fighting the fire and they'll be like the way we feel we don't know what hard numbers. how we feel we think you. might. be. we're still pulling people out of some of the homes yes people were trapped are they still for finding them i don't know we did find some earlier they still are going from house to house i guess find some people . but. i know that they should. be killing hours off not only the

media. but other areas that may be affected or keep from additional and hard. a lot of it is ongoing and there is a process. amount of resources for him for. not only those who don't know where about a hundred. or a very close tight. they know why the only job tonight for the search for a dog they have relied heavily on the outpouring of more agencies around the area i will tell you we have seen. involvement not only from mclennan county which we are seeing around the. additional counties in the around living better here as well helping huge job for you there is

a law enforcement command post set up. a command post set up they have. the law and. they are working with the local media ology here they should know we have very significant strong south winds throughout the. some more we're being civil shoaling morning the winds are going to switch the north and are going to continue to be a strong thing at a whole lot or maybe a big one still when she. still in the process if we give them full. to hell and also go get it not be better but the blast we're trying to get in shape for the night is still the same we sure got worried. for you. i cannot confirm it all i don't know the dark was born there i have not heard that you're anywhere let me do this i know you love

a few questions about it already i'll try to answer what i can but you're going to get a lot of i'm not sure yet from let me know long as we don't. get to bring somebody over here just so. that. they were still moving people out of. i don't know how or ranging there was it's my guess the point they're trying to keep people from coming into the area absolutely for safety reasons because we don't know yet we have been able to assess the damage and what change will harm my life yes sir. i know that there was a small contingent of firefighters back in the plant based on there being a fire burning hundred mi several in hydrous ammonia tank that they were very concerned about. those kids would get to flash one obviously no one would go and

we'd have second or third explosion they have that fire under control and i don't think there's any longer. fire. i can verify that i know that the mayor is here he didn't say anything about there but i cannot bear but. yes. i don't know the answer. why. the abundance of caution in one. eye. because we don't know we we don't know the numbers yet they're still pulling victims out we're still bringing victim's. name until we have

a good estimate we don't want to we don't want to get we want to be very specific with you and give you facts not just me. absolutely i can tell you when i got here my first assignment was to go in. command post they moved me after i got there but on the way and i can take us all home so we're burning homes that had significant devastation based on windows blown out bricks hold off siding pulled off some homes were leveled it was almost four night aking effect it looked like to me one home would be fun but next to the stream devastation. i don't know that you know. more than yes i'm telling you we have confirmed fatalities. i'm not confirming a number i'm telling you or confirmed but. not enough.

e-mails fire. let me let me make sure i'm very clear on that we know fire was here we know law enforcement was sitting with red meat and i believe they were. i would have. been all the leaders of number five hundred there was a hello world. that actually just buying some damage in the blast i'm working for that well i don't know for sure that's a fact that just different. know this boy we don't know that is something we'll look at whether that was a criminal activity or whether it was just a fire that goes far from some type of chemical where. he has made. shortly followed by a shark there are people here that are well versed in what their issue may be

they're looking at all the weather events that are born long around where the flatmate really what potentially is in. what may or may not call for this something that they're working on but no. we know we know what's coming and they have me back playing for probably going on for broad change to where the pleasure just. we don't know. again you have to understand this is a downtown area and when i say downtown area there are businesses there are a nursing home was there are homes in the area it is going into a. mid-size city maybe new home by home business by business block by block it is a very tedious process where they have to be really careful the reason utilities

been shut off we don't want to but he also injured building a live wires that's all or what there have been very cautious. i know there were numerous people injured in the nursing home most of those were in the process of being evacuated don't have a confirmation whether there was actually but still for most of. the morning. all of the second. i do not. just want his name is where i want to be happy. like i came up not probably until morning movie know the devastation about what occurred if you haven't seen the video you saw

abnormality or if you have seen the video while dramatic explosion was it was a huge explosion and if you didn't know what would surround it you know what the structures were some of the concussion the effects of the closure before right just . one more time. i was. never. i'm being told that those are you bothered me to hear how i don't know the significance of the public. part one more but. i don't know the point hopefully in the morning we will be able to give you much more detail on how far reaching what i will get back when we have new information i

will tell you i appreciate you all being here waiting for this information i know you're wanting to hear maybe see more of their knowledge because you did not find them no new stuff so you go there someplace playing here with us and we can come and give you bits and pieces with mum or. i tell you we're listening to you saw him punching swanton there from the police department he was given a press giving a press. conference he said that there are confirmed fatalities but said that they could not say exactly how many people have died early we've heard official reports that two people have died and unconfirmed reports from local media after the disaster that seventy people had been killed he also went on to say he described the situation when he arrived at the scene he said it was devastation he said that the blast affected part of the downtown area of the small town of west offices and

homes and schools were affected windows had been blown out buildings had been flattened and he said the police and emergency services as i speak is still going from house to house pulling. well i'm joined by shawn thomas. he's in the studio with me and has been reflecting on what has happened here another concern he mentioned there in that report was the wind because it's not just the explosion because devastation is a huge amount of toxins now in the air it's very windy in west. and it's believed that the wind could blow around to the north and to great area ninety sort more fully familiar with the joke for the niam so what sort of impact could that have on an area. such as west well let's play out a scenario if you will on this ongoing disaster as because we've we've had the explosion in the fire we've had that disaster now we have this possible and hydrous

ammonia cloud that could have escaped from the plant these toxic fumes that they're worried about are they've been talking about having a very strong southerly wind south wind and then around seven o'clock in the morning local time very expecting that based on having meteorologists on seeing that wind shifting around and then basically blowing back toward. basically switching directions if you will so right now they're preparing for their evacuation plans they're telling communities and houses and people who might be in the way of just toxic cloud big. on the south wind. now they have to shift their way of thinking and then go back from the north wind sandpoint so this is again something that they have to keep in mind in a constant real time fashion trying to predict ahead to see what they need to do to keep as many people safe as possible ok let's just take a chat we interviewed. somebody who does have knowledge.