Video of Texas explosion caught on cellphone
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Raw: Texas blast caught on cellphone
A witness captured the explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant with his cellphone camera. Erick Perez, 21, of West, Texas, stopped to record the fire while playing basketball. (April 18)
AP
In a cellphone video released to the Associated Press, Erick Perez, 21, of West, Texas, says he stopped playing basketball Wednesday to film a large fire at a nearby fertilizer plant.
As he and friends watch the fire, a massive blast knocks Perez over.
Officials said the fire and explosion are most likely an industrial accident, but agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating.
The blast, which rocked the ground with the force of a magnitude-2.1 earthquake could be felt as far as 45 miles away. As many as 15 people are dead and more than 160 injured from the explosion. Homes were leveled in a four-block area around the plant, police said Thursday.