Rescuers search for survivors after Texas fertiliser plant blast
A major rescue effort is continuing in the Texas town devastated by a fertiliser plant explosion that has been likened to a nuclear bomb blast.
Emergency crews have scoured the blast site in the small town of West after Wednesday's night's massive explosion.
Though the loss of life from the explosion appears to be not as high as first feared, the impact of the shock blast has overwhelmed the town's tight-knit community.
ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore reports from West.
More than 160 people were injured following the chemical blast at West Fertilizer Company.
The cause of the explosion was not known and officials said no evidence of foul play had been found.
Firefighters had been battling a fire at the plant on Wednesday night for about 20 minutes before the blast rocked the town of 2,700 people about 20 miles north of Waco.
Three to four volunteer firefighters were still missing, police said.
The blast destroyed 60 to 80 houses, reduced a 50-unit apartment complex to what one local official called "a skeleton standing up" and left a horrific landscape of burned-out buildings and blackened rubble.
Texas Governor Rick Perry described the situation as "a nightmare scenario" and said "the tragedy has most likely hit every family."