A fertilizer plant explosion rattled Texas this morning leaving at least five to 15 people dead –and the toll could ultimately be in the dozens, notes the Dallas Morning News.

The number of people injured has already passed 160 as patients grapple with “blast injuries, orthopedic injuries, (and) a lot of lacerations,” says a hospital boss, per CNN. Meanwhile, fears of another explosion at the plant have prompted an evacuation among local residents near Waco.

The blast followed a fire that “spread and hit some of these tanks that contain chemicals to treat the fertilizer,” says a local congressman.

A nearby nursing home and school were both on fire in the town of about 3,000, with an apartment building fully enveloped and dozens of houses damaged, the Morning News reports. The explosion may also have resulted in toxic fumes, the Times notes; it caused a tremor whose power matched a 2.1-magnitude earthquake

It was a grim day today at the Daytona 500 after two dozen NASCAR fans were injured when large chunks of debris sailed into the grandstands when a car flew into the fence on a frightening last-lap accident in the second-tier Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Tony Stewart skipped the traditional post-race victory celebration so paramedics could tend the injured fans. The Orlando Sentinel reports that four people were fastened to backboards, and six were described as seriously injured.

The crash began as the field closed in on the finish line and sent rookie Kyle Larson’s car sailing into the fence that separates the track from the seats. Large chunks of Larson’s car landed in the grandstands. The car itself had its entire front end sheared off, with the burning engine wedged through a gaping hole in the fence.

“There obviously was some intrusion into the fence and fortunately with the way the event’s equipped up, there were plenty of emergency workers ready to go and they all jumped in on it pretty quickly,” NASCAR President Mike Helton said. “Right now, it’s just a function of determining what all damage is done. They’re moving folks, as we’ve seen, to care centers and take some folks over to Halifax Medical.”

Caleb Moore died yesterday of injuries suffered during last week’s horrific snowmobile crash at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., his family revealed in a statement.

Moore, 25, hurt himself when he botched the landing on a backflip, bringing his entire 450-pound snowmobile crashing down on his head and chest.

“He will be truly missed and never forgotten,” his family said in a statement, thanking “fans, friends, and family around the world” for their “prayers and support.”

Dentist appointments never end well, never. That’s what a 60-year-old woman learned while undergoing dental implant surgery when the dental drill being used on her came loose and slid down her throat.

“She tried to spit it out, and was made to cough, but she’d already swallowed,” Västmanland County Hospital’s medical chief Per Weitz told The Local.

The 1.1″ drill then became lodged in her right lung, requiring an emergency bronchoscopy to remove it. “A pinky-sized tube was sent into her lung with a small camera and pliers to grab hold of the drill,” Weitz said.

The procedure was successful, and the unnamed patient was discharged the following day. She was able to fully recover within a month.

Authorities say a 62-year-old employee has been cooked to death at a Southern California seafood plant for tuna maker Bumble Bee Foods.

The Whittier Daily News reports that Jose Melena was found shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday at the plant in Santa Fe Springs.

Erika Monterroza, a spokeswoman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, says it’s unclear how the man ended up inside a cooking device called a “steamer machine.”

The state agency has launched an investigation.

Bumble Bee Foods spokesman Pat Menke expressed condolences to Melena’s family in a written statement. Menke says operations at the canning facility will be suspended until Monday.

A teenager headed to a Sweet 16 party was killed after he stuck his head out of the emergency hatch of a double-decker bus and hit the underside of a highway overpass, police said.

Daniel Fernandez, of Sayreville, N.J., was among 65 teens aboard the bus Friday night as it crossed the George Washington Bridge from New York City, said Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police. The 16-year-old was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Alex Franco, a security guard on the bus, told the Daily News that he had warned the teens to leave the hatch alone.

“I told them not to open the hatch, like three or four times, but kids, they don’t understand,” he said.

Franco said he went downstairs to tell the driver that it was getting too hot.

“It was very hot. Everybody was dancing. Two, five minutes I was downstairs,” he said. “Then I heard two guys screaming, `Oh, my God, oh, my God.’”

Designer Transportation, which operates the bus, expressed its “deepest heartfelt sympathy” for the boy’s family. It says it plans to conduct an internal investigation.

Authorities were searching a stretch of the Merced River for a 6-year-old boy after his older brother died when a current swept them away during a family outing in Yosemite National Park.

Hikers pulled the body of his 10-year-old brother about 150 yards downstream from where family members had waded into the river to cool off Wednesday.

Their mother was hospitalized with a back injury after being pulled from the river, park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said.

“She went into the river but made it out,” Cobb said.

The boys were part of a group of about 15 extended family members who made the short hike to the bridge, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. Signs at the trailhead warn that the river can be dangerous, but people often are drawn to the water’s edge.

“We’ve got a low water year this year, and around the banks it’s only 8 to 10 inches deep, but once you get out further, we have a swift current and it gets deeper,” Gediman said. “They both got swept away by the current.”

The location also was the site of tragedy last summer when three Central California friends cooling off in a pool above the fall were swept to their deaths. Two of their bodies were discovered months later lodged under boulders near the site where the 10-year-old boy was found.

A 57-year-old man drowned two weeks ago in the Merced River when he was pinned under a rock, and another person died in June on the south fork of the river near the Wawona area in the park.

The trail remained open during the search for the boy but portions might be closed depending upon developments.

A Wisconsin woman and her adult son were killed in separate traffic crashes just hours apart in a Milwaukee suburb, police said Monday.

Mary J. Moore, 45, died after she was struck by a vehicle on a street in West Allis.  A friend was driving her son, Thomas M. Olson, 22, to the hospital to see her when he struck three parked cars and overturned, West Allis Deputy Chief Charles Padgett said. Olson was killed in the crash about 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

Padgett said Olson knew his mother had been hit, but he wasn’t sure if Olson knew she had died.

“It’s emotional. We want to get there fast and sometimes disregard our safety,” Padgett said. “I use it to remind people that regardless of the circumstances, be aware of the speed.”

The driver of the car OIson was riding in was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He and two other passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Moore was hit as she lay prone in the street. A motorist following the car that struck her told police it looked as though the vehicle hit a speed bump, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s report. The witness did not realize that it was a person until getting closer, the report said.

“In my 24 years (of law enforcement), I’ve seen a lot of strange things, but don’t specifically remember a case like this,” Padgett said.