Right on the heels of Monday’s Boston Marathon Tragedy came an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas - located just 20 minutes north of Waco, Texas. With a massive fireball being launched into the night sky at approximately 7:50pm CT, at least 60 people were injured when, for reasons not yet known, an explosion occurred at the plant. People were reportedly trapped in burning nearby structures, including a nursing home and a local middle school. Nearby buildings have been described as being “destroyed.”

As the Google Maps image below shows, West Middle School and West High School are both located within hundreds of feet of the fertilizer plant, believed to be owned by West Fertilizer Co. The triage point for victims has been identified as being on the corner of N Reagan St and Haven St, just north of West Middle School.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has already released a statement:

“We are monitoring developments and gathering information as details continue to emerge about this incident. We have also mobilized state resources to help local authorities. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of West, and the first responders on the scene.”

Debby Marak, a local teacher, said that she was driving over to the plant to see what the cause of the smoke was when two boys ran toward her, screaming that authorities were warning of an immediate explosion. After driving a block, she felt it:

“It was like being in a tornado…Stuff was flying everywhere. It blew out my windshield.” She added, ”It was like the whole earth shook.”

From 2 miles south of the plant, at the Marak household, her husband saw the fireball that erupted, describing it as a “mushroom cloud.”

You can listen here to the initial scanner traffic, in which you can hear reports of firefighters going down as they combat the blaze. 6 to 7 firefighters are, as of now, unaccounted for.

Stick with ViralRead as details emerge on the story.