The bodies of 15 people have been recovered after the enormous Texas fertilizer plant explosion that demolished surrounding neighborhoods for blocks and left around 200 other people injured, authorities said Friday.

Twelve bodies were taken out of the remains of the plant, another two were found in an apartment complex nearby and a man living in a nursing home died after being evacuated, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Senator John Cornyn said on Friday that 60 people are still unaccounted for, but authorities hope that number will drop.

Officials said that 25 houses in the blast area remain to be searched, as reported by the Star-Telegram. According to Senator Cornyn, authorities are currently checking hospitals and ‘making sure they know where people are.’

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Reyes said it was ‘with a heavy heart’ that he confirmed 12 bodies had been pulled from the area of the plant explosion. Reyes added that three fire rescue trucks and one EMS vehicle were destroyed in the blast.

Rubble: The fertilizer plant at West, Texas, was completely leveled after a devastating explosion that was felt by resident 50 miles away

Help: A ‘God Bless West’ sign in West, Texas, as vehicles line up to enter the town on Friday

Cleanup: Crews have begun combing through the plant, searching for the bodies of the firefighters who are believed to have died fighting the fire before the explosion

Sacrifice: Texas volunteer firefighters clean a fire unit at their headquarters on Friday. It was reported that eight emergency responders, five of them West volunteer firefighters, were among the dead or missing

Even before investigators released a confirmed number of fatalities, the names of the dead were becoming known in the town of 2,800 and a small group of firefighters and other first responders who may have rushed toward the plant to battle a pre-explosion blaze was believed to be among them.

On Thursday, it was reported that eight emergency responders, five of them West volunteer firefighters, were among the dead or missing.

Reyes said he could not confirm Friday how many of those killed were first responders. The mourning already had begun at a church service at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church the previous night.

‘We know everyone that was there first, in the beginning,’ said Christina Rodarte, 46, who has lived in West for 27 years. ‘There’s no words for it. It is a small community, and everyone knows the first responders, because anytime there’s anything going on, the fire department is right there, all volunteer.’

One victim Rodarte knew and whose name was released was Kenny Harris, a 52-year-old captain in the Dallas Fire Department who lived south of West. He was off duty at the time but responded to the fire to help, according to a statement from the city of Dallas.

Authorities spent much of the day after Wednesday night’s blast searching the town for survivors. Reyes said those search and rescue efforts continued early Friday. Investigators also searched for clues to the cause of the explosion and inferno.

Working together: Volunteers help out at a distribution center where supplies like water and clothing, including medical supplies, are being dropped off or picked up as needed

Assistance: Vehicles wait in line to offer relief to the stricken town of West, Texas, on Friday

Grim news: Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jason Reyes, left, and Trooper Noey Fernandez inform reporters that 12 bodies have been recovered from the plant at a press conference on Friday. Three others died nearby

Lost: Kenny ‘Luckey’ Harris (left), a 52-year-old father of three who was a fire captain in Dallas but lived in West has been confirmed killed. Perry Calvin (right), 37, a married father of two from Emmett, Texas, was at a training class in West when the blaze broke out. He is missing and feared dead

Missing: Volunteer firefighter Joey Pustejovsky, pictured left with his wife, is reportedly among those missing following the massive explosion in West. Right, Morris Bridges, who was also a first responder following the blast, has been reported missing by his family

Officials said there was no indication of foul play in the blast at West Fertilizer Co, which they said had not been inspected since 2006, was storing potentially combustible ammonium nitrate and was located in a residential area.

The State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas said in a statement on Thursday that six firefighters, four paramedics and one other first responder died Wednesday night as they battled a blaze the West Fertilizer Company.

‘We were all volunteers. There was not one person that got paid to be there. Not one person that was ordered to go there,’  Brice Reed, an EMT with the West Volunteer Fire Department, told CNN. Reed also rushed into the blast zone, but survived and was visibly shaken as he spoke.

Rescuers expect to find 14 bodies in the the rubble of the plant and the wreckage of 50 to 75 homes that were destroyed in the explosion, Mayor Tommy Muska said.

Solidarity: A bucket for donations for the support of residents and first responders seen at the Little Czech Bakery in West, Texas, on Friday

Devastation: Firefighters conduct search and rescue of an apartment destroyed by an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, which has killed 15

Muska says there is ‘no sign of life’ left in five-block radius that was flattened by the blast. A 50-unit apartment building was gutted. A middle school and a nursing home with 133 elderly patients nearby were both destroyed by fire.

A fire captain from Dallas who lived in West and rushed to help his neighbors is confirmed dead.

The volunteers were battling a fire at the plant last night when a tank of anhydrous ammonia – the same substance that fueled the 1995 Oklahoma City bombs – exploded with such force that it was felt 50 miles away and registered as a magnitude 2.1 earthquake.

Several volunteer firefighters from other departments were in West for a training class when the fire at the fertilizer plant broke out and they heroically rushed to the scene, as well.

Six families have said publicly that they are missing loved ones, also. At least 179 people were injured in the explosion, 13 seriously.

Heroes: This 2013 photo shows the West Volunteer Fire Department. Many of the people in this pictured rushed to the fire at the fertilizer plant in their town. Several of these brave volunteers are missing and feared dead

The remains of the West Fertilizer Company are barely recognizable after the massive explosion and intense fire ripped through the facility

One home was razed to the ground in the ensuing fire, while others were heavily damaged by flying debris and the concussion of the blast

As the dust settled on the small community of 2,800 people on Thursday morning, photographs revealed destroyed homes and debris-strewn roads in a four- or five-block radius around a massive charred crater where the plant once stood.

Later, Muska, who is himself a volunteer firefighter and was heading to the fertilizer plant when the blast occurred told the Dallas Morning News that the death toll might be lower – 14 to 16, which he described as a ‘relief.’

Early reports put the death toll as high at 70. Muska had previously said up to 40 were missing and feared dead.

The only person confirmed killed thus far was Kenny ‘Luckey’ Harris, a 52-year-old captain in the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department who lived in West and ran to the fertilizer plant to help his neighbors put out the blaze.

Smoke and ash: Smoke still rises from the rubble of a house next to the plant

Thrown by the blast: A deer head mount sits inside a damaged car parked next to the apartment complex that was severely damaged

Danger: A children’s playground is reduced to piles of timber

Flying debris: A giant hole in the ceiling of the West High School gymnasium

‘Captain Harris rushed to the scene compelled to provide assistance to his community during this crisis, rushed to the scene compelled to provide assistance to his community during this crisis,’ Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said. I want to express my deepest condolences to his family, friends and co-workers.’

Those reported missing by their families are:

• Morris Bridges, a married father of two who is part of the West Volunteer Fire Department
• Perry Calvin, 37, a married father of two from Emmett, Texas, who was at a training class in West when the blaze broke out
• City Secretary Joey Pustejovsky, a West volunteer firefighter
• Cyrus Reed, a West volunteer firefighter and medic
• Brothers Robert, 47, and Doug Snokhous, 50, who are West firefighters.

Unused: Wheelchairs sit by the remains of an apartment complex next to the fertilizer plant that exploded yesterday afternoon

Leveled: This crumbled building was once an apartment complex with 50 units. One official described its remains as ‘a skeleton’

The roofs of houses around the West Fertilizer company caved in. One home burned to the ground. An estimated 50 to 75 houses have been heavily damaged

More…

• Desperate search underway for firefighters missing after devastating Texas fertilizer plant explosion that killed up to 15… but town mayor warns there is ‘no sign of life’
• ‘We wanted to save them but we couldn’t get them out’: Survivors tell of desperate bid to pull neighbors from the rubble after West fertilizer plant blast
• Dallas fire captain and married father of three who ‘rushed to the scene’ of the Texas explosion is confirmed dead as five other firefighters remain missing
• This man survived the Boston Marathon blasts by seconds then witnessed the Texas fertilizer plant blast

Read More

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