(Reuters) - Authorities in Texas reported a large explosion on Wednesday at a fertilizer plant in the town of West, near Waco, and local media said that there were a number of injuries reported.
The blast, reported shortly before 8 p.m. CDT (0100 GMT on Thursday), was confirmed to Reuters by Waco police dispatch operators, who could not immediately confirm reports of damage or injuries.
The Waco Tribune newspaper, in an online account, quoted an emergency dispatcher calling for multiple ambulances and saying, "we have a lot of injured here."
The Tribune said several buildings were reported to be on fire, including a middle school in West, a town of some 2,700 people about 80 miles south of Dallas and 20 miles north of Waco.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman, Tim Gaynor and David Bailey; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Beech)
