Refinery blast rocks Texas Panhandle area

Two units of a refinery producing high-octane gas exploded her Sunday, injuring at least 15 persons, heavily damaging several nearby houses, and sending about 200 residents of the Panhandle area fleeing into a freezing storm, authorities said.

The explosion at the Phillips Petroleum Company occurred at about 7:30 a.m., local time, producing a 15-second earthquake-like tremor and scattering metal fragments up to four miles, witnesses said.