Explosion at fertiliser plant in Texas

At least three people were reportedly killed, dozens of others were injured and about six firefighters were missing after a massive blast and huge fireball tore through a Fertiliser facility in West Texas, about 20 miles north of Waco.

A huge plume  of smoke - laden with toxic anhydrous ammonia - was visible for miles and was being pushed by winds blowing from the south, officials said.

Eyewitness reports say up to four blocks of houses have been destroyed. The Texas Department of Public Safety says between 50 and 75 houses have been damaged. Witnesses also reported heavy damage to a nursing home, a middle school and an apartment complex in the area.

Hospitals near the blast site said 172 people were being treated. At least 24 of those were in critical condition, and 38 in serious condition. Many of the victims suffered from injuries related to flying debris.

The television news station KWTX said that the explosion happened just before 8pm and that emergency crews from throughout the region were responding.

“We’ve had a big explosion at a fertiliser plant,” the New York Times reported quoting a woman who answered the phone at the Fire Department in West. “There are injuries, casualties; it’s terrible,” she added.

Images posted by the Waco Tribune showed houses on fire, patients being evacuated from a nursing home, ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles tending to groups of people.

Texas authorities said the fire is now under control.

"All the injured have been taken care of", officials said before adding that a second house by house search has started and is expected to go on all night.

"With the explosions, the whole street lifted up," Marak, a resident living 2 1/2 blocks from the plant, told ABC News. Marak's house was destroyed in the explosion, ABC reports. "It was like a massive bomb went off. It demolished both my houses, my mother's and mine [...] I think everything around us is pretty much just gone," she said.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the blast registered as a 2.1 magnitude earthquake. (NewsPoint)