Texas residents urged to evacuate after Port Neches chemical plant blasts

There are about 60,000 people who have been evacuated from the area nearby Port Neches in Texas right after a number of huge explosions at a chemical plant. Records show a flash of light before the plant was engulfed by flames, while another video shows the door of a house nearby being blown off its hinges.

Texas residents urged to evacuate after Port Neches chemical plant blasts

According to police, at least three employees were injured in the initial explosion.

The first blast occured at 01:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Wednesday, following by a series of secondary explosions.

It is not yet known the reason that caused the blast, which was felt about 30 miles (48km) away from the TPC Group plant.

After that, there was a further large blast taking place at 14:00 on Wednesday, which resulted in sparking the evacuation order.

The mandatory evacuation zone was set up to cover a 6.4 km (4 mile) radius of the facility, which included the towns of Groves, Port Neches, parts of nearby Nederland and Port Arthur.

Officials stated that they were not sure when evacuated people would be able to return to their homes.

In a statement, TPC Group stated that it has activated its emergency response plan and requested assistance from Port Neches Fire Department.