State of emergency declared in Texas

US President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Texas, where a huge and deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant has caused a crisis.

Under the order that was issued on Friday, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is authorized to “identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.”

The blast took place on April 17 at West Fertilizer Plant in the Texas town of West, that is located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) north of Waco.

At least 14 people, including volunteer firefighters, were killed in the explosion, which damaged buildings, including a middle school, within a half-mile radius.

Local authorities have said that 200 people were also wounded in the blast.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the mayor of West said 35 to 40 people might have died in the blast “because they are unaccounted for and still missing.”

“We are out there searching the rubble, looking in each and every house. We are trying to locate each and every citizen,” said Mayor Tommy Muska as rescue workers continued to look for survivors.

Muska added that as many as six firefighters and four emergency medical technicians were among those who are missing and believed dead, with all other residents and first-responders in the area accounted for.

According to Waco Assistant Fire Chief Don Yeager, the fertilizer facility had an anhydrous ammonia explosion. However, the cause still remains unknown.

In an unrelated incident on April 15, the United States experienced two other terrorist explosions, which hit the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring more than 150 others.