Obama consoles families, survivors of Texas blast


April 25, 2013 at 4:21p.m.

Obama consoles families, survivors of Texas blast

WACO, Texas (AP) — President Barack Obama is consoling families of victims of a fertilizer plant explosion and residents of the devastated Texas town where the blast happened last week.

Obama is attending a memorial service at Baylor University in Waco for victims of the explosion in nearby West, Texas. Obama traveled to the service by helicopter after attending the dedication of former President George W. Bush’s new library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas today. Obama flew over the town to see the destruction.

The April 17 explosion left 14 people dead and hundreds injured. The tragedy was eclipsed by the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon and the manhunt that ensued.

For Obama, such services have become a sad and familiar event. He attended a memorial in Boston last week.