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U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday pledged support for the recovery of the U. S. town of West when attending a memorial for victims of a fertilizer plant explosion that killed at least 14 and virtually leveled the town a week ago.
"To the families and neighbors grappling with unbearable loss, we are here to say you are not alone. You are not to be forgotten, " Obama told thousands of local residents and firefighters from across the country attending the memorial at the Ferrell Center at Baylor University, in the Texas city of Waco.
"We will be there even after the cameras leave and the attention turns elsewhere. Your country will remain ever ready to help you recover and rebuild and reclaim your community," he said.
Obama told the crowd that no words adequately describe the courage displayed by those who died.
"What I can do is offer the love and support and prayers of the nation," Obama said.
A flowers wreath is put by a highway to mourn for the victims of the fertilizer plant explosion near West, Texas, the United States, April 22, 2013. (Xinhua/Wang Lei)
Obama inspected the site of the explosion from air as he flew from Dallas, where he attended the dedication ceremony of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Thursday morning to Waco, some 30 kilometers from West.
Sixty to seventy fire trucks in four rows lied outside the arena of the memorial, paying tribute to the first responders killed in the explosion. Inside, caskets draped in large American flags were lined up in the front of the memorial. Pictures of the deceased were erected in front of the caskets.
The memorial, hosted by the U.S. National Firefighters Foundation, was comprised of emotional speeches from officials, as well as videos of victims' families and friends, who shared memories of their loved ones.
"These are volunteers: ordinary individuals blessed with extraordinary courage," Texas Governor Rick Perry said at Thursday 's service. "They knew full well that another explosion was a possibility."
Perry promised the families of first responders who died that their loved ones would not be forgotten.
The deadly explosion on April 17 decimated part of West, with a population of only about 2,800. More than 200 people were injured in the blast.
Authorities said the cause of the fire and subsequent explosion remained unknown and the investigation continued.
After the explosion, a crater nearly 30-meter wide and 3-meter deep sits where a building once stood.
The Insurance Council of Texas said Wednesday that losses from the explosion will probably top 100 million U.S. dollars.
