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West Residents Wait; Pray For Missing

West Residents Hugging
(credit: KTVT/KTXA)

WEST (CBSDFW.COM) - Many people in the small town of West are waiting and praying for loved ones still listed as "unaccounted" after a fertilizer plant exploded leaving as many as 15 people dead and at least 160 injured Wednesday evening.

The tight knit community is a popular pit stop for people on their way to Dallas our Austin … a place where everyone seems to know one another. "We're known for Kolaches but this is some good, Bohemian people, and they're going to band together. They're going to help each other. Prayers and thoughts are what we need now more than anything," said West resident Tony LeNoir.

Lenoir found out Thursday morning that some of his friends from the volunteer fire department are missing and four are confirmed dead. "It's a town of 3,000 people and we're in shock, you know? It's bad."

The pain of not knowing is written on so many faces. Finding a loved one is like medicine today.

"You're either from West or you're not. Real tight-knit community. And they stick together," said Lenoir, who shudders to think of all the funerals he will have to attend in the coming weeks.

But they will get through it with a lot of help from others who care and the outpouring of support from all over the world.

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