I will warn you that this video is disturbing. A man not to far away from the initial fire at the plant is sitting in his car recording when suddenly he’s knocked over by the sheer force of a bomb-like explosion. As the picture goes dark, the man’s child is heard saying, “Dad, I can’t hear, I can’t hear. Get out of here. Please, get out of here.”
I’m assuming/hoping the man and his child are okay given that the video made it onto Youtube shortly after it was taken.
What’s happening in West, Texas, (located just north of Waco) is an unfolding nightmare with catastrophic damage from the fire and force of the explosion reverberating throughout the entire town. The injured are said to include all types of people from babies to the elderly. Hundreds of casualties are expected and the town is currently under an evacuation order. For updates, check out live coverage from CBS 11 here, which just reported that 60 people have been confirmed dead and 100 injured by West Emergency. (The media has backtracked from this, saying instead that at least 100 people are being treated for injuries with an unknown number of fatalities.)
UPDATE: Just to give you an idea of the damage, here is a picture of an apartment complex completely leveled by the force of the explosion:
That guy seems to know the fire is bad news, yet hangs around anyway. What is he doing with a child in his car? Ugh!!
He said that he thought it was going to collapse. He thought he was far enough away. Hindsight is always 20/20.