Blast at Texas oil refinery kills 14, injures more than 100; just one unaccounted for

All but one of about 1,800 workers at a BP oil refinery have been accounted for after overnight search efforts following the thunderous blast that killed 14 workers and injured more than 100 other people, officials said Thursday.

"We think we've found all the bodies," refinery manager Don Parus said.

BP refinery records indicate the one unaccounted-for worker checked out and left the refinery, but no one has heard from him, Parus said. Those who died were all contractors for Los Angeles-based field services company J.E. Merritt, he said.

The fiery blast Wednesday at BP's 480-hectare (1,200-acre) plant near Houston shot flames high into the sky, forced schoolchildren to cower under their desks and showered plant grounds with ash and chunks of charred metal. Windows rattled more than 8 kilometers (5 miles) away.

PAM EASTON Associated Press