Pope Francis tweeted a prayer request for the victims of a fertilizer plant explosion in Texas.
“Please join me in praying for the victims of the explosion in Texas
and their families," he said on the English channel of his Twitter
account, which uses the handle @Pontifex.
Between five and 15 people are believed to be dead and 160 injured in
the explosion that took place Wednesday night near Waco, Texas.
Emergency services and rescue workers are still searching through
smoldering ruins for missing firefighters and survivors of the huge
blast.
The explosion happened at a fertilizer company just off the town of
West, a small community of 2,300 people just 20 miles north of Waco.
First-responders were able to evacuate 133 residents of the West Rest
Haven Nursing Home, some in wheelchairs, since they were at the plant
fighting a fire, about 30 minutes before the deadly blast.
Authorities say 75 houses, several businesses and a 50-unit apartment complex were damaged.
Experts say it is possible that the highly explosive chemical ammonium
nitrate, which can be used to make fertilizer, was being stored at the
plant.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said it was sending a large team to investigate the incident.
The Pope has previously launched appeals at his weekly general audience
and during his Sunday Angelus where thousands of pilgrims gather.
But his Dec. 12, 2012 Twitter debut gave the pontiff another venue for
making his prayer requests or calls for peace when violence breaks out.
The account shows 18 posts since Pope Francis became the Successor of Peter on March 13, 2012.