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Holy shit this video is so scary

tw: not for the faint of heart, explosion happens and phone drops and kid starts freaking out. i really hope this kid and the dad are okay.

looks like it happened ~ 2 hours ago (10pm est, i dont know what timezone waco is in?) and here's a google doc for the displaced.

If you are trying to contact family and friends, send a message to #WestContact -- please keep hashtag clear for family members.

— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) April 18, 2013

also hashtags westtx westexplosion prayfortexas

lots of mass confusion about the amount of people dead on twitter, no one has a straight answer and everything is rumors right now

man i have to go to bed or else i will be exhausted in the am. if you guys see anything post it up!

Apparently 60 to 70 people have been killed, according to CBS http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/04/17/fertilizer-plant-explosion-reported-north-of-waco/

The explosion happened at a fertilizer plant, which means that extremely toxic chemicals are now being dispersed throughout the area. People are being evacuated from the area now.

Law enforcement is advising residents to leave town immediately

— West (TX) ISD (@WestISD) April 18, 2013

I would not want to be anywhere in central Texas right now…well, much less so than usual, at any rate.

And today has been one of the shittiest news days in a long time.

Damn that was huge explosion.

Any word on what started the initial fire?

The two people who are known to be dead are EMS workers who were likely on-site for the initial fire. The blast was set off by tank(s) of anhydrous (non-watered) ammonia combusting. There is current concern, as there is at least one more intact tank inside of the facility that may also explode.

The ammonia is a major health concern (Blue, Class 3), minor flammability concern (Red, Class 1), and stable chemical (Yellow, Class 0) [See NFPA 704]. It's major health concern is that it combines with water in the body, causing chemical burns and dehydrating the individual. It can ignite when preheated (the aforementioned initial fire).

Monday wasn't that long ago.

Ammonia is a bitch when you breathe it in. Any updates as to when the air will clear? Can't imagine that much NH3 and what it could do in that much dosage…
EDIT: After seeing the video, I shocked myself when the plant exploded. Dear Lord, that was large… and with much of the manure there most likely holding methane, that would spread the flames even farther.

Different angle:

First Reddit post

Looks like some people are trolling already too (link)

This and the Boston Bombing… So much tragedy in so little time. What's next?

I don't even want to know.
Does anyone have any idea if these might possibly be related incidents? I just can't fathom the astronimically terrible luck required to have two horrible events of this magnitude happen so near in time to one another, without it being purposeful.

You know what's really sick is that Westboro Baptist Church is gonna be all over this
I bet you dollars to donuts that they're gonna issue a statement in the next couple days

I think only about five have been killed, but firefighters estimate about 160 were injured.

another another vid

not to be disrespectful but what the hell is going on over there in USA?

No.
Plant explosions do happen on occasion, but they're usually small tanks or fires that break out. What happened here was a simple blaze occurred and managed to reach one of the ammonia tanks. Pressure built up when the ammonia was being heated, and the tank ruptured and exploded. There is no indication of this being a bombing or sabotage.

The ammonia dissipated rather quickly, but the biggest issue was that the wind was blowing toward the northern section of Wako and the highway, dosing hundreds if not thousands of people with the fumes. The wind has since changed and is blowing any remaining gas toward rural farmland, so the emergency workers are focused on putting out the fires, ensuring the other tank(s) don't rupture, and search-and-rescue for those who's homes were damaged or destroyed in the blast.

Just the astronomically terrible luck.

Viuff The Dancing Murloc wrote:

not to be disrespectful but what the hell is going on over there in USA?

It's fine. We have issues with chemical fires/explosions several times a year, and typically they're not really heavily reported on because we're a bit too focused on what moviestar happened to wear at some event or something.

Right now though, everyone is a little on edge. With gun rights being talked about, DPNK's test launches, and the Boston bombing, we're a bit paranoid and our eyes are darting around looking for signs of danger. It's a human survival tactic, and we're having a rather bloody April this year.

People on Youtube are complaining about the footage being vertical.
Prioritizing at its finest.

"The Internet Reacts" to anything these days!!!

Well, being in Waco. The thing had a explosion of a four block radius. Schools, houses, apartments and others were destroyed and hospitals were full. Sadly we're still kinda suffering from it. It's still trying to be put out and to make things worse. There's ammonia gas spreading around.

Aren't we lucky…

But seriously, this is very weird. Iraq, Boston, India… and now this.

I still feel real sorry for all those people in Waco and Boston…

Where in India, out of curiosity?

Also, I live near this area in Texas, so I'm kind of spooked. I offer my sympathies to my fellow Texans (as well as anyone who was simply visiting the state).

I used to live in Waco. Well…actually Lorena, but my mom went to college at Baylor at the time. Scary shit. I first heard the news "West Explosion" and immediately thought "Oh no! Not the Czech Stop!; No kidding. That place is amazing and I go there every time I go to Texas. ABC even did one of their What Would You Do videos there and the whole time all I could think was THAT'S THE CZECH STOP!!!

Well now that I'm done with my tangent, I srsly hope that the people of West Texas are okay…and that the Czech Stop is too. lol.

Edit: Now that I think about it, a similar explosion happened in Arkansas back in 2008. It was a fire at a meat processing facility that destroyed an anhydrous ammonia tank, the same stuff as in this fertilizer explosion. Of course this recent explosion was much worse and what not. I heard that it was at a fertilizer plant and wasn't surprised. I mean, that stuff is pretty much bomb making material. Some kind of fertilizer was used in the OKC bombing years ago.

@Kung Fu Cthulhu:
Somewhere in Southern India… I forget exactly where.

Shit is hitting the fan in the world this week. (Not being offensive here, I'm being serious on the amount of explosions in one week.)

I mean, wasn't there someone checking up on the ammonia during the time this happened?
I'm sorry if this sounds offensive, but honestly, should there have been a person trying to fix the problem at the time?

Adding on to CommanderTroll65's post, I found this article on the explosion, it was during the assembly elections in India but the local authorities are still unsure if it was related to the election or not. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/17/bangalore-bombing-india_n_3100423.html?utm_hp_ref=world

What's nuts is that on April 16, 1947, almost 66 years to the day, the largest industrial disaster in US history happened in Texas City, Texas when two ships full of fertilizer blew up.

Google "Texas City Disaster"

It's ironic that tomorrow's the 20th anniversary of the Waco Siege.

Waco had it's shares of disasters. Every few years something happens here.
Waco Siege, Waco Tornado
The Lynching, Lake Waco Murders, and now a factory explosion.

The person who regularly inspects the ammonia tanks was not there because he was busy running away from the fire.

Seriously, the only safety precaution you can take with giant fires and ammonia tanks is "Don't start fires near the ammonia tanks". But the initial fire was an utter and complete freak accident. I don't think anything was broken and it was not anyone's fault.

@Engie you make an excellent point, this certainly isn't the first disaster Waco has faced and, sadly, probably won't be the last. But that fact gives me hope that the people of Waco will be able to recover quickly and won't lose their hope.
It really is horrible how closely this happened to the Boston Bombing isn't it? Not to mention there was the Sandy Hook Shooting a few months ago. Usually these sort of things are spaced out, not happening all at once. Heres hoping no other tragedies strike while we're recovering.

What is going on with explotions lately?

There are too many. And uneasy to explain. :I

2013*

Y'all are tough.

For the record, the explosion occured in West, Texas, not in Waco. I live in Waco, and stuff is pretty chill here, except for the disaster relief initiatives occurring. Everyone's just trying to help out and do their part.