A year ago today, a massive fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Plant in the town of West, Texas, killed 15 people, injured more than 200 others and destroyed 120 homes (damaging 200 more).
The plant, located near Waco, experienced a fire earlier in the day that grew larger and culminated in a massive explosion just before 8 p.m. The explosion was felt 50 miles away and registered as an earthquake on seismograph machines.
In today’s age of smartphones, there’s no shortage of video footage from industrial accidents and natural disasters, as anyone with a mobile device can document the event and upload it to the Internet. Such is the case with the West, Texas, explosion. These are a few of the eyewitness videos of the tragedy, as well as news coverage of the accident and the memorial service.
'Oh My Lord!'
There's a good reason that this video by Francisco Rodarte has received 2.4 million views. The video opens with the plant burning in the distance, and you can hear Rodarte trying to explain the situation to an understandably curious child. Then, much to their surprise, there's a spectacular explosion.
Shockwave
According to CNN, Jeff Tobola waited until the eve of the anniversary of the blast to upload this video, which he captured on his cellphone.
'Please Get Out of Here!'
This video shows the plant explosion from three vantage points – and includes the terrified reactions of bystanders.
ABC News Coverage
This video shows the coverage from "ABC News Now" the morning after the explosion.
A Drive into Chaos
This video by Paul Lannuier shows the smoke plume viewed from the outskirts of town as the car approaches the disaster. The driver and his passenger speculate that only a plane crash could have caused such devastation.
The Memorial
This memorial service, which aired on "PBS News Hour," is a touching tribute to the workers who lost their lives in the accident.