14 Die In Massive Explosion At Texas City Refinery

TEXAS CITY, Texas -- A massive explosion and fire erupted at a Texas City refinery Wednesday afternoon, resulting in at least 14 deaths and more than 100 injuries. It also destroyed buildings and vehicles, and sent a plume of thick, black smoke hundreds of feet into the air.

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Team Coverage: Witnesses Describe The Blast

The blast happened at 1:20 p.m. at the BP Amoco petrochemical plant, located at 2401 5th Street. It occurred in a gasoline refinery area of the plant, officials told Local 2.

The explosion and fire left a lot of destruction and rubble at the plant, including a row of vehicles destroyed by flames, as well as buildings blown apart and leveled.

In addition to the 14 deaths, at least 105 people were injured.

Twenty-two victims, including 21 men and one woman, were taken to UTMB Hospital in Galveston, a Level 1 trauma center. Four people are listed in critical condition and ten victims are in serious condition. The others are listed in fair condition.

Hospital officials said the injuries range from burns, scrapes, scratches and contusions, to broken arms and broken legs.

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SLIDESHOW: See Pictures Of Explosion
SLIDESHOW: Close-Up Pictures Of Blast Scene

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"We're talking about some pretty serious burns, some people with a combination of burns and blunt trauma from the explosion itself or what we see a lot of times, people who are blown back from the explosion and run into some other thing or structure. We've seen some people injured in the collapse of some structures. We've seen some orthopedic injuries, some burns. We have a lot of people with eardrum injuries where they've blown out their eardrums and can't really hear or communicate well right now because of that. So, we're seeing a wide spectrum of injuries at the moment," said Brian Zachariah, UTMB's emergency medical director.

At least 60 injured were treated at Mainland Medical Center in Texas City, while another 23 were treated at the Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in Webster. They are all listed in stable condition.

Lifeflight helicopters helped transport some of the victims.

All of the injuries involve workers at the refinery.

An information hot line was set up for families of employees at (409) 945-1400.

"It's been a sad day for the BP Texas City site and a really sad day for me, personally, as well. Our concern right now is for the families of those injured and families of those involved in the incident," said Don Parus, BP Amoco's Texas City site director. "At this time, it's unclear what happened. The fire was contained to the isomerization unit. This unit improves the octane of gasoline. It was contained to that single unit."

A search-and-rescue team worked into the night looking for victims.

The FBI also joined the investigation into the blast, which is standard procedure after the Sept. 11 attacks. But officials said they do not suspect terrorism.

"We have blast technicians down there and other personnel working with the Texas City P.D. at their command post," said Al Tribble, with the Houston FBI office. "From what I've seen and heard, thus far, there's a lot of investigative work that needs to be done. There's a lot of questions that have to be asked."

Residents Hear, Feel Blast

Residents told Local 2 that the explosion rattled homes and shattered windows.

"I was in my house on Tiki Island and it shook the house," said Mark Jackson. "I walked out my back door and saw the smoke."

Jackson lives about five miles from the blast location.

"I heard this big explosion. The whole building shook. Things were coming off the walls and we knew that something exploded. It's just been chaotic around here with everything," said Dianne Burnett, who works across the street from the refinery. "Our scaffolding fell."

"I was shaking and then I heard a boom and a window popped out. I was just at the door and I turned around and went and got my cousin out of the bed," said Keisha McFarland, a nearby resident.

"All of a sudden it just went, 'Boom.' It knocked my nephew to the ground, three blocks away," said Joey Terry, who felt the explosion.

"It felt like my walls were going to be caving in on me. It shook my house so bad," an unidentified resident said.

"We felt the explosion sitting at an intersection and we thought a car had hit us," another unidentified resident said.

A shelter-in-place order issued for nearby residents and schools in the Texas City Independent School District was lifted at about 2:15 p.m.

The BP Amoco complex is the largest in Texas City, with 1,200 acres. The facility, which lies along the Houston Ship Channel, has 1,800 employees. It is considered one of the most complex refineries in the world. The Texas City site has been in operation since 1934 and supplies 3 percent of the nation's gas. The plant processes 433,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

On March 30, several explosions rocked the same facility. Officials said that fire started in a furnace. The plant was evacuated, but no one was injured.