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Several killed, and over 100 injured, in explosion at Texas fertiliser plant

A fertiliser plant in West, Texas, exploded following a fire – damaging buildings several blocks away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROrpKx3aIjA

(YouTube: zidyboby; explosion is featured at around 0:30)

SEVERAL PEOPLE have died, and over 100 have been injured, after a massive explosion at a fertiliser plant in Texas.

The plant at West, a in the east of the state close to Waco, exploded when a fire spread to its chemical stores at 7:50pm local time (1:50am Irish time).

Buildings several blocks away were damaged in the blast, and it is reported that residents of a nearby nursing home are among those who have been injured and trapped by rubble.

The explosion at the plant – which was based in the centre of the town, which has a population of about 2,800 – was so powerful that it registered as an earthquake of magnitude 2.1.

Dallas News reported that the plant was storage capacity for 54,000 pounds (24,500 kg) of anhydrous ammonia. By way of comparison, the 1995 bombing at Oklahoma City used 4,800 lbs of ammonium nitrate.

Firefighters are dealing with blazes at nearby buildings but are not being sent to the plant itself because of the presence of toxic materials in the air, and the possibility that other chemical stores at the plant could still explode.

The football field at a nearby high school had been converted to a triage centre to deal with the injured, but that too had to be evacuated because of its proximity to the burning plant and the airborne fumes. A grim mushroom cloud hung over the town as nightfall approached.

Town mayor Tommy Muska told the Waco Tribune that at around 5am Irish time, several firemen who were tackling the original fire at the plant are unaccounted for.

“We’ve got a lot of people who are hurt, and there’s a lot of people, I’m sure, who aren’t gonna be here tomorrow,” Muska told AP.

“We’re gonna search for everybody. We’re gonna make sure everybody’s accounted for. That’s the most important thing right now.”

Between 50 and 75 houses in the town have been damaged, and local authorities said buildings within four blocks of the plant were “totally decimated”.

Glenn Robinson, the chief executive of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Centre in nearby Waco, told CNN his hospital had received 66 injured people for treatment, including 38 who were seriously hurt.

He said the injuries included blast injuries, orthopaedic injuries, large wounds and a lot of lacerations and cuts. The hospital has set up a hotline for families of the victims to get information, he said.

Information was hard to come by in the hours after the blast, and entry into the town was slow as the roads were jammed with emergency vehicles rushing in to help. Texas governor Rick Perry said state officials were among those waiting for details about the extent of the damage.

Lucy Nashed, a spokesman for Perry’s office, said personnel from several agencies were en route to West or already there, including the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality, the state’s emergency management department and an incident management team.

Also responding is the state’s top urban search and rescue team, the state health department and mobile medical units. The US Chemical Safety Board said it was deploying a large investigation team to West. American Red Cross crews from across Texas also headed to the scene.

Red Cross spokeswoman Anita Foster said the group was working with emergency management officials in West to find a safe shelter for residents displaced from their homes.

More as it comes in; additional reporting by Associated Press

VIDEO: Live local TV news coverage of the Texas explosion

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61 Comments
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    Mute Tal Tallon
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:18 AM

    It registered 2.1 magnitude on richter scale. That’s some explosion!
    And it’s right beside a heavily populated suburban area, school and nursing home.
    Can’t imagine how horrific it is for residents

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    Mute John McCormack
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:41 AM

    Sweet Jesus, that looks awful, the poor yanks are having a bad week

    125
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    Mute colm connolly
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:44 AM

    Yanks are New Yorkers, yanks is not a term for all Americans

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    Mute Gripey McGripe
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:52 AM

    Pedantic pat, apologies. The Americans are having a bad week.

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    Mute daniel fell
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    Apr 18th 2013, 11:09 AM

    Yankee’s

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    Mute Dave
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:17 AM

    Horrifying.

    87
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    Mute Bryan Rooney
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:45 AM

    That is quite distressing – poor kid. It’s been a terrible week for the US – shocking.

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    Mute Eamonn Bolger
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:32 AM

    Scary. Apparently there was a similar event at the same plant in 1947. Poor feckers.

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    Mute Orla curry
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:46 AM

    Jesus you dont know whats going to happen in america next, its horrifying. R.I.P to those who died

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    Mute Eamonn Bolger
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:35 AM

    Orla, the amount of red thumbs your comment received is indicative of the hatred of America by some misguided people on here. May they rest in peace.

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    Mute James Murphy
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:40 AM

    Jesus that was frightening.

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    Mute Barry Aston
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:01 AM

    Volunteer fire fighters would have been tackling that blaze when that explosion happened. These are normal folks thst work behind desks etc…. that don fire gear when the call comes.

    54
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    Mute Dessie Edmunds
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:52 AM

    20 year anniversary of Waco ATF siege tomorrow. Ominous

    50
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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:53 AM

    That was my first thought when I read ‘Waco’… Could it just be a coincidence?

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    Mute Simone Fennell
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    Apr 18th 2013, 11:45 AM

    It could and is

    3
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    Mute The Dr.
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:48 AM

    Id be selling my house asap if I lived anywhere near a fertiliser plant after seeing that!

    38
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    Mute Sarah Sue
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:14 AM

    That video scared the hell out of me cant imagine how terrified that poor kid and his Dad must have been. The emergency services are true heros to have the courage and skill to deal with something so dangerous & devastating.

    36
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    Mute Brian Daly
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    Apr 18th 2013, 10:22 AM

    You’ve got to ask what dumb ass would stop and video this putting his own and kids life in danger?

    3
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    Mute Rob Hitch
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:17 PM

    Im sure they thought they were at a safe distance. That looked very far to me. I would not have expected something like that.

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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:52 AM

    And I would like to point out that the father who was recording this was clearly careless he has risked his and his family life for a bit of sensational footage, and after that he has published a video where his distressed son/daughter is in shock. How insensitive. Shame on him.

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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:07 AM

    But of course, already red thumbs because it is ok to do so. That makes me sick, sick people you are, one this is missing in this footage is somebody without a leg or hand or some other part of their body!! Sicko.

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    Mute Dec Rowe
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:43 AM

    I doubt the guy thought he was at any risk at the distance he was at! From the sound of it he was expecting the plant to collapse not explode.

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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:47 AM

    That’s beside the point unless he is sure what’s going on he shouldn’t do that. People are just reckless in pursuit of sensation.

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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:52 AM

    Than again what I’m talking about. I’m talking to a people in the country where mothers and fathers are crossing a streets pushing buggy with a child in front of them on the red lights sometimes miraculously avoiding collisions.

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    Mute Amy gaffney
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    Apr 18th 2013, 10:11 AM

    Krystian what the hell are you talking about? The guy was a mile away nobody could have foreseen that a) it would blow and b) that the blast would reach that distance. And suggesting all Irish people try to murder their children by pushing them in front of cars to back up your argument is, to be honest, slightly tipping on the cuckoo side of the scale.

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    Mute Dec Rowe
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    Apr 18th 2013, 10:21 AM

    You’re off your bleedin rocker Krystian! :)

    27
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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    Apr 18th 2013, 10:34 AM

    It is a fertilizer plant!!! do you know what sort of chemicals are being used in process of making fertilizer? For instance ammonium nitrate which in large quantities which are burining is highly explosive , i assume that this folks are living in some proximity to this plant and most likely know the dangers (although in right conditions minimum) of living close to that kind of plants. This is stuff that you don’t have to have PhD to know. And i’m not suggesting that all Irish people are trying to kill their children by pushing them under the car, just some, walk on the streets of Dublin and you will see what i’m talking about. And i have brought this up simply to justify the red thumbs i’m getting.

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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    Apr 18th 2013, 10:39 AM

    Sorry i’ve made mistake sentence ”children by pushing them under the car” should be ”children by pushing them in front of the car”

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    Mute Dec Rowe
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    Apr 18th 2013, 10:57 AM

    You’re making silly assumptions! You’re assuming that this guy knows it a fertiliser plant!
    I on the other hand am assuming he doesn’t know it’s a fertiliser plant! But my assumptions are based on the fact that he expected the building to collapse and NOT explode… What are your assumptions based on?
    Oh and I suppose people never cross the street with buggys when there’s a red light in Lithuania or whatever country you are from!?

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    Mute Dec Rowe
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    Apr 18th 2013, 11:05 AM

    Not that I agree with EeeJits that go that do that! Absolute nutters.

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    Mute Jason
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    Apr 18th 2013, 12:51 PM

    Ya krystian this is a real crap country full of reckless people. Here’s an idea. go back to whichever better country you came from then and it won’t bother you so much.

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    Mute Jason
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    Apr 18th 2013, 12:51 PM

    Ya krystian this is a real crap country full of reckless people. Here’s an idea. go back to whichever better country you came from then and it won’t bother you so much.

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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    Apr 18th 2013, 2:03 PM

    Yeah of course, it was matter of time before the racists comments will come out. So typical.

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    Mute Amy gaffney
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    Apr 18th 2013, 3:13 PM

    Now Krystian, I’m no racist, and I’m never usually particularly defensive about Ireland, but didn’t you attack irish people first and unprovoked on a completely unrelated article?

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    Mute Jason
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    Apr 18th 2013, 3:40 PM

    Ha you absolute muppet kristian. You’re the one who generalised about an entire country by saying we push kids in prams in front of cars and so are reckless and you call me a racist when I tell you to go back to whichever country you came from if its so bad here? It because of people like you that cloak genuine racism because when ye allege it it’s so off the mark that genuine incidents are dismissed.

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    Mute Jason
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:03 PM

    And I think to be more accurate you should accuse us of being xenophobes and not racist. The irony.. Us paddys and our buggies.

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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:22 PM

    Uhm right yeah. I’m happy that we have established that. Think outside the box, man was still an eejit for recording this and risking his life, yes people are running across the street with their children so I’m getting red thumbed from the very beginning cuz if nobody see any problem with running with child on the red light across that poxy street than how on earth I’m expecting people in here to see that it was risky to film some sort of factory under fire with a child in the car. I would suggest going on YouTube and see what people wrote on that too. I’m not the only one who thinks the same. Finito. And I’m Polish not Latvian and don’t let me start on differences between different countries .

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    Mute Jason
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:31 PM

    Well I’m sure the man wouldn’t have stopped there if he thought it was too close. He was a good distance away and the explosion was massively exceptional. It wasn’t like he was up next to the place. He was on the road which you can see in the mirror. The red thumbs most likely come from people that think to cast judgement on the man is a completely smug, arrogant and judgemental comment from a person that has the benefit of hindsight.

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    Mute Krystian Brzezowski
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:40 PM

    Bottom line: I hope that nobody here will make that kind of mistake as well. Forget about yourselves think about your children and don’t walk into harms way, even if you have the slightest doubts about safety. Might be too late but sorry for offending some people. This is my view.

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    Mute Dec Rowe
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    Apr 18th 2013, 10:35 PM

    Amen to that brother! ;)

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    Mute Brendan Rice
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:55 AM

    The same thing happened in France in September 2001. It registered as a 3.2 on the Richter scale:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1556100.stm

    21
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    Mute Amy gaffney
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    Apr 18th 2013, 10:06 AM

    Can anyone tell me what distance “several blocks away” is? How far away would an average block be? Not a sarcastic question btw- genuinely would like to know.

    19
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    Mute Dec Rowe
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    Apr 18th 2013, 10:24 AM

    I think it like when we say ‘straight and take the 3rd left’ they say ‘go 3 blocks and take a left’ blocks mean buildings. I think! :)

    11
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    Mute Jason
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    Apr 18th 2013, 12:53 PM

    20 blocks in a mile

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    Mute Amy gaffney
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    Apr 18th 2013, 1:21 PM

    Thanks, so a few blocks away is actually close, makes the amount of damage at that distance a bit more understandable. Cheers!

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    Mute Brian Ward
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:38 AM

    I wonder if this is the same sort of plant that NET used to have near Cobh at one stage. If the same tragedy occurred there the consequences would be catastrophic.

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    Mute mcgoo
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    Apr 18th 2013, 7:57 AM

    Thankfully they closed that plant and made all the staff redundant Brian. Much safer indeed.

    54
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    Mute Brian Ward
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:11 AM

    I don’t know why you think people losing their jobs is an occasion to be thankful Mr Mcgoo. A lot of my former customers worked in that plant and would find your comments in very bad taste.

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    Mute Amy gaffney
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:46 AM

    Brian, have you read the article? Your friends are alive and unhurt. It’s your comment that’s in bad taste in my view

    51
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    Mute Brian Ward
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:57 AM

    Amy I have been following this story since 5 AM this morning so I am well aware of the human tragedy that is unfolding. I also am aware that the plant was near an urban area which is why I posted my first comment considering that people are asking why such a plant was placed where it was. What annoys me is someone being thankful that people were put out of a job especially seeing as I knew some of those personally.

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    Mute mcgoo
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:23 AM

    Brian, I apologise. I engage in sarcastic and cynical behaviour on here sometimes. However, as my dad is an unemployed contractor from the plant in cobh, I feel like I have some first hand experience.

    32
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    Mute Brian Ward
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:32 AM

    Mcgoo Perhaps we got our wires crossed on that one. To be honest I was always nervous going in there and any other chemical plant that I used to deliver to. Hope your Dad gets something soon.

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    Mute mcgoo
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:56 AM

    Cheers for that dude and agreed, some of these old factories do have a sense of foreboding about them!

    17
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    Mute Paul Keane
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:26 AM

    They could be no more than 500m from the blast. they are so lucky to be alive. sympathies to the families of those who died. I thought fertilzer would require a detonation to create an explosion? could extreme heat make it explode?

    17
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    Mute Ossi Fritsche
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:08 AM

    What an idiot putting his child at risk.

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    Mute Dec Rowe
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    Apr 18th 2013, 9:40 AM

    It looks like he’s a good distance from it, if you we’re passing at that distance would you not stop to look if you didn’t realise what the plant contained?

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    Mute Brendan Rice
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    Apr 18th 2013, 8:00 AM

    and the PEPCON explosion at a rocket fuel factory in Nevada in 1988 registered as a 3.5.

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    Mute Liz (10) (^_^)
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    Apr 18th 2013, 10:34 AM

    Horrific news.

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    Mute My Thoughts
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    Apr 18th 2013, 4:08 PM

    Does anyone know if that poor child got their hearing back? I’m sure the dad meant no harm as he was in total shock as well. Still though that was an awful shock for the young child… It’s like the lightening bolt headed straight for them. Scary…

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    Mute Kinder Damo
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    Apr 18th 2013, 5:16 PM

    I’m sure the father and child are ok,, I think everyone’s forgetting about the bigger picture here and krystrian your a pig of person you’ve some neck to jump on the racist defence hate people like you

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    Mute rach
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    Apr 18th 2013, 4:00 PM

    Assuming he lives nearby he should have known what the risks were. Agree with the people saying he was putting his child at risk although unintentionally I’m sure

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