Boston Bombs Suspect 'Awake And Responding'

The surviving Boston marathon bomb suspect is beginning to respond to questions from investigators, reports say.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev remains in a critical but stable condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, where some of the 180 people wounded in the blasts are also being treated.

The 19-year-old is said to have a wound to his throat - reportedly caused by a gunshot through his mouth that exited the back of his neck - which prevents him from speaking.

Tamerlan died in a gunfight

But major US news networks say he is responding to questions in writing.

He is under armed guard in hospital and federal prosecutors are preparing to file criminal charges against him.

Dzhokhar is also reported to have been shot in the leg during a shootout with law enforcement the night before his arrest.

His older brother and fellow suspect Tamerlan, 26, died in that gunfight.

A lawyer for Tamerlan's wife, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, said US authorities have also asked to speak with his client.

Amato DeLuca said Mrs Russell Tsarnaev did not suspect her husband of anything, and nothing seemed amiss after the bombings.

After Tamerlan was killed early on Friday, Dzhokhar escaped, triggering an hours-long manhunt that shut down Boston.

It ended with the teenager's capture in a boat parked in a backyard late on Friday night.

It has also emerged police chiefs believe the Tsarnaev brothers were planning further attacks.

Tamerlan's wife apparently did not suspect her husband of anything

Commissioner Ed Davis said officers found a large stockpile of weapons and more than 250 rounds of ammunition at the scene of the earlier gun battle.

"They had IEDs," he said, referring to improvised explosives devices. "They had homemade hand grenades that they were throwing at the officers.

"The scene was loaded with unexploded improvised explosive devices that actually we had to point out to the arriving officers and clear the area."

He said one IED was found in a Mercedes the brothers had abandoned. "This was as dangerous as it gets in urban policing," Commissioner Davis said.

Dzhokhar leaves the boat he was hiding in

The city's residents have been asked to observe a moment of silence at 2:50pm today, exactly a week after the first of two bombs went off within seconds of each other near the marathon finish line.

A private funeral was also set to take place later for Krystle Campbell, a 29-year-old restaurant worker who was among the dead.

A memorial service will be held at Boston University for another victim, Lu Lingzi, 23, a graduate student from China. The youngest person to die was eight-year-old Martin Richard.

Mr Davis said federal authorities were trying to track down how and where the two suspects obtained the firearms and explosive devices.

There was a big manhunt for Dzhokhar who escaped after the first gun battle

The two were ethnic Chechens who had been living in the United States for a decade.

Dzhokhar became a US citizen in 2012, while his older brother's application was reportedly held up.

Tamerlan began posting militant videos on social media sites in recent years, and travelled to Dagestan, which borders Chechnya, in 2012. Both Russian regions host separatist rebel groups.

Three people were killed in the twin bombings

The brothers' social media pages appeared to express sympathy with the struggle in Chechnya, which has been ravaged by two wars since 1994 between Russia and increasingly Islamist-leaning separatist rebels.

Three people died and more than 180 others were injured in the twin blasts at the marathon, the worst bombing to take place in the US since 9/11.

The Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball and several affiliated organisations have contributed more than £400,000 to One Fund Boston, established to help people most affected by the blasts last Monday.

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Boston: 'Wife Heard Husband Was Suspect On TV'

The wife of one of the alleged Boston Marathon bombers apparently found out he was a suspect on television.

US investigators have asked to speak to Muslim convert Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, according to her lawyer Amato DeLuca, as they try to establish a motive for the attacks.

She did not suspect her husband Tamerlan Tsarnaev of anything, and nothing seemed amiss after the bombings, he added.

Mr DeLuca said she had been working 70 to 80 hours a week as a home health care aide while her husband looked after their toddler daughter.

The lawyer said on the last day his client saw her husband alive, Tamerlan, 26, was home when she left for work.

She was at university in Boston when friends introduced her to her future husband at a nightclub and they dated on and off, before marrying in 2009 or 2010, Mr DeLuca said.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev (left) and his younger brother Dzhokhar

Mrs Russell Tsarnaev, reportedly aged 24, was raised as a Christian, but at some point after meeting Tamerlan Tsarnaev she converted to Islam, he said.

When asked why she converted, he said: "She believes in the tenets of Islam and of the Koran. She believes in God."

The suspected bomber was killed after a shootout with police early on Friday.

His brother Dzhokhar, 19, escaped, triggering an hours-long manhunt that shut down Boston before he was caught.

The siblings are accused of planting two bombs near the marathon finish line last Monday, killing three people and injuring more than 180.

Forensic officers at one of the blast sites

Mrs Russell Tsarnaev did not speak to federal officials who on Sunday evening came to her parents' home, where she has been staying since her husband died.

Mr DeLuca said he spoke to officials but he would not offer further details.

"We're deciding what we want to do and how we want to approach this," he said.

When asked whether anything seemed amiss to the wife following the bombings, DeLuca said, "Not as far as I know."

"When this allegedly was going on, she was working, and had been working all week to support her family," he said.

He said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was at college and she did not see him "at all" at the apartment they shared with her mother-in-law.

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Boston: Video Of 'Bomber' Dancing Amid Shock

A video has been released of the younger Boston Marathon bombing suspect joking around, doing robotic dance moves, and wrestling with a friend.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is accused, along with his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan, of setting off the deadly explosions near the finish line, killing three people and injuring over 180.

Yushun Tsou, who was on the wrestling team with the teenage suspect at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, has posted the video online with the words ''this was the Jahar I knew'', referring to Tsarnaev by his nickname.

The footage, taken in a basement during their high school years, shows the tall Tsarnaev dancing in front of the camera and wrestling a friend before he eventually pins him down.

Mr Tsou, who refers to Tsarnaev as a "friend and teammate", is one of a number of the suspect's associates who have expressed their shock at the apparent out-of-character behaviour.

Andrew Glasby, a friend at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth who lived in the same dorm in a floor above, said they had chatted the day after last Monday's bombings.

Dzhokhar was also pictured wrestling in the video

"I thought it was just regular old Jahar," Mr Glasby said.

"We had a typical conversation, he was not startled, he was not scared, he was not anything. He was just the same old Jahar."

Mr Glasby also told ABC News: "He had the balls to come back and act like everything was OK, like nothing happened."

He said Tsarnaev had offered to give him a lift home on Friday.

Mr Glasby said he shocked when he saw his friend identified as a suspect in the bombings.

"Shocked is the word for it. I did not expect it. This was out of nowhere," he said.

Two days after the attacks, Tsarnaev reportedly attended a party, and one female student who was also there said: "He was just relaxed."

He had also been to the gym and slept in his dorm room that night.

The suspect is being treated in hospital as Boston pays tribute to victims

A former classmate at the university, who would only identify himself by his first name San, said Dzhokhar had told him he was having trouble on some courses.

"He was talking about how he wasn't doing as good as he expected," San, 22, said.

"He was a really smart kid, but having a little difficulty in college because going from high school to college is totally different."

San told the New York Times he would be willing to testify on Dzhokhar's behalf. "I feel like all of his friends would do that," he said.

Peter Tean, 21, a high school wrestling teammate, said he thought Dzhokhar's interest in rough-and-tumble sports came from a desire to be like his brother.

"He's done these violent sports because his brother's a boxer," Mr Tean said. "He really loves his brother, looks up to him."

Ethnic Chechen Dzhokhar is in a critical but stable condition in hospital under armed guard after being injured during a gunfight with police before his capture on Friday evening.

His older brother and suspected accomplice Tamerlan, 26, died after an earlier shootout.

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Five Killed In Russia Hunting Shop Shooting

A manhunt is underway after a gunman killed five people in a shooting at a hunting shop in the southwest Russian city of Belgorod.

Interfax news agency reported the gunman walked into the shop and fired shots, killing three staff.

He then killed two more people on the street outside before getting into a BMW and driving off. One other person was also injured.

The vehicle was later found abandoned in the southwestern Russian city, close to the Ukraine border.

Officers surrounded a car fair in the city as they searched for the suspect.

The Moscow-based Investigative Committee said in a statement it had identified the suspect, adding the gunman was a resident of Belgorod and had been released from prison in 2012.

The area around the shooting scene has been cordoned off by police.

In a statement, regional police said: "Currently, an active search is going on to detain the suspect."

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Syria: US Offers Rebels $123m Non-Lethal Aid

The United States is providing Syrian rebels with $123m (£80m) in new non-lethal aid that may include body armour and other supplies.

The money will double the amount of non-lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition, as well as increase humanitarian aid.

The aid could include armoured vehicles, night vision goggles and advanced communications equipment.

Foreign ministers from the main supporters of the rebels trying to topple the Syrian government have been meeting in Istanbul to increase pressure on Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

The United Nations estimates the fighting in Syria has killed more than 70,000 people.

"The stakes in Syria couldn't be more clear," said US Secretary of State John Kerry.

"Chemical weapons, the slaughter of people by ballistic missiles and other weapons of huge destruction, the potential of a whole country ... being torn apart into enclaves, the potential of sectarian violence.

John Kerry meets Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul

"This bloodshed needs to stop and that's what brought us here tonight on Saturday and a very early Sunday morning to talk about the possibilities for peace and transition."

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers said they welcomed the Syrian National Coalition's "firm rejection of extremism and its commitment not to use chemical weapons".

They cited those commitments in agreeing to enhance and expand support for all coalition institutions.

The foreign ministers said they recognised the "need to change the balance of power on the ground" and welcomed the additional pledges and commitments to further increase the support to the Supreme Military Council.

The head of the council provided a military briefing during the meeting.

Syrian opposition leader Moaz al Khatib said: "Our revolution is for the entire Syrian people."

US President Barack Obama has said he has no plans to send weapons or give lethal aid to the rebels, despite pressure from Congress, some administration advisers and appeals from the Syrian opposition leadership.

Since February, the US has shipped food and medical supplies directly to the Free Syrian Army, but Mr Obama recently expanded the aid to include defensive military equipment.

Mr Kerry's announcement on Saturday was the first under that new authorisation.

So far, the US has provided an estimated $117m in non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition.

Today, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel heads to Israel in a week-long trip to the Middle East that will be dominated by the Syrian conflict as well as the Iran's nuclear programme.

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India Protests At Rape Of Five-Year-Old Girl

Protesters have staged a second day of rallies in New Delhi in protest at the brutal rape of an abducted five-year-old girl.

It was the latest in a string of attacks on females that have brought thousands on the the streets of India's capital, angry at the way women are regularly subjected to violence.

The girl is being treated at New Delhi's top government hospital where officials said she was in "stable condition".

The attack on the young child and the subsequent public revulsion was reminiscent of the horrifying gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus last December, who died from her injuries.

That case led to weeks of protests and a national debate over the status of women in India, putting the spotlight on the level of sexual violence.

The girl suffered serious internal injuries during a two-day ordeal, allegedly at the hands of a garment worker who was arrested on Saturday.

Hospital medical superintendent D.K. Sharma told reporters: "She is in stable condition and showing signs of improvement.

"She is conscious and talking to her parents, doctors and nurses and it can be said there is no danger to her life now."

A woman protests outside the police headquaters in New Delhi

Demonstrators carrying flags and posters gathered outside the the city's main police headquarters for a second day of protest.

Another group headed to the hospital where the young victim girl is under round-the-clock observation.

The Times of India reported that many people sat in the road and sang songs as the police erected barricades to keep them in check.

Many called for the sacking of Delhi police commissioner Neeraj Kumar after it emerged two police officers have been accused of delaying an investigation into the case.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the latest attack showed again work was needed to change attitudes and improve safety.

He said: "It is widely accepted that, as a country, we have vast improvements to make in these (safety, security and status of women) areas. These issues came into sharper focus after the horrific gang rape incident in Delhi last December.

"The gruesome assault on a little child a few days back reminds us of the need to work collectively to root out this sort of depravity from our society."

The 22-year-old suspect, said by media reports to be a tenant in the child's house, was apprehended after he fled to his in-laws' home in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.

He is accused of repeatedly attacking the child inside a locked room after kidnapping her on Monday in a lower middle-class area of the New Delhi.

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China Quake: Over 11,000 People Injured

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

The death toll in the Chinese earthquake is expected to rise above 200 today as rescuers find more bodies under rubble.

More than 11,000 people are confirmed to have been injured after the earthquake struck China's Sichuan province.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua said the quake, measured at varying magnitudes between 6.6 and 7.0, struck at 8.02am local time on Saturday close to the city of Ya'an in Lushan county.

The epicentre had a depth of a little less than eight miles (13km).

The quake triggered landslides and destroyed buildings. A major rescue operation involving emergency services and more than 6,000 troops has worked through the night to reach trapped people in various communities across the region.

The rescue effort is understood to have been hampered by aftershocks. Some of the tremors that followed the main quake have been almost as strong.

In one area, about 50% of buildings have been destroyed

According to local media reports, a vehicle carrying 17 soldiers fell off a cliff and into a river as it travelled to the epicentre. One soldier was killed and seven more injured, three seriously.

But extraordinary stories of survival are already emerging. According to one local media report, a mother managed to lift concrete weighing 50kg to rescue her son from the rubble.

Another report described how a woman gave birth at a bike shelter just a few hours after the quake hit.

And remarkable TV footage from one collapsed building shows rescue workers pulling a tiny baby alive from the rubble. The child's mother was also saved.

Tremors were felt in neighbouring provinces and in the provincial capital city of Chengdu. Users of Weibo, China's microblogging service, have posted images of damaged buildings and described scenes of panic as residents rushed outside.

Local seismologists registered the quake at magnitude 7.0 while the US Geological Survey (USGS) put it at 6.6.

The USGS said "significant" casualties were likely and "extensive damage is probable and disaster is likely widespread."

A Chinese general, flying over the region in a helicopter, told local media that as many as 50% of buildings in one area had collapsed.

Thousands of rescuers have been deployed

China's new Premier Li Keqiang has visited the region to survey the damage.

The quake is the first big test for the new Chinese leadership. Their ability to respond to it is likely to be scrutinised on an ever growing social media forum.

The epicentre is close to the location of the 2008 earthquake which killed 68,000 people. That quake had a greater magnitude of 7.9 but its epicentre was further underground.

The 2008 disaster destroyed large swathes of the province along with areas of neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu. The government faced significant criticism for allowing badly constructed buildings to be erected and for covering up their failings.

This time, early indications suggest a much better level of preparedness.

Cai Jing, the Deputy Secretary-General of Sichuan's Provincial Government, attempted to reassure people at a late news conference last night.

"The main road sections in Lushan County have been reopened," he said.

"Hospitals in the province are ready to receive and transport the injured. A total of 28,971 rescuers from 95 professional rescue teams with 933 sets of equipment have been dispatched," he told reporters at the briefing in Chengdu City.

"At present, about 13,466 rescuers have arrived at the epicentre and 2,058 others are heading to the area. In addition, 13,547 rescuers are put on standby."

Better technology is also helping the authorities. For the first time, unmanned drones are being used over the disaster zone to send back pictures and assess damage.

But new technology is also putting increased pressure on the authorities. This is the first natural disaster in China in the "Weibo era". The twitter-like social media phenomenon has allowed "netizens" to openly criticise the government for failings.

International offers of assistance have already been received.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague sent the condolences of the nation.

"My thoughts are also with the Chinese authorities and the emergency services as they continue their rescue efforts. We are in contact with local authorities through our Consulate-General in Chongqing and will continue to follow the situation closely," he said.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin sent China's President Xi Jinping a telegram expressing his condolences and offering help.

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Boston Bombings: Footage Of Suspect Hiding

A video has been released by police showing the operation to capture the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Thermal imaging footage from a helicopter depicts a glowing white mass - Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding in a boat before he was detained by officers.

One section of the video was of a police vehicle using an extended robotic arm to remove a tarpaulin covering the vessel while others showed officers detonating incendiary devices on the boat.

Tsarnaev, 19, was captured late on Friday after a gunfight with police that ended the city-wide search.

The suspect remains under armed guard in hospital unable to speak, as investigators try to find a motive for the attack.

His brother Tamerlan, 26, died earlier on Friday after a shootout with the police. Officers are working to determine whether the two ethnic Chechen brothers accused of the attack acted alone.

Incendiary devices were detonated on the boat by police

A law enforcement source said Tamerlan travelled to Moscow in January 2012 and spent six months in the region.

But it remains unclear what he did while he was there, or whether he had contact with militant Islamist groups in southern Russia's restive Caucasus region.

A website used by North Caucasus rebels has reportedly denied any link to the marathon bombings.

"The command of the Vilayat Dagestan mujahedeen... declares that the Caucasus fighters are not waging any military activities against the United States of America," the website said.

"We are only fighting Russia, which is not only responsible for the occupation of the Caucasus, but also for monstrous crimes against Muslims," the rebel site said.

Bombing suspects Tamerlan Tsarnaev (L) and his brother Dzhokhar

Sky's Moscow correspondent Katie Stallard said the development was "very significant" because authorities will be looking for the ideology behind the attacks.

She said: "Until they are able to speak to Dzhokhar to get information from him, they will be working backwards through these men's history in terms of travel, where they have been physically, websites they have visited, material they have looked at online."

Stallard added: "There are allegedly videos that the older brother Tamarlan had been looking at which identified him with the cause of the Caucases emirate.

"It's a separatist moment down in the south of Russia, started as a Chechen nationalist movement that has become a movement towards an independent Islamic state in that region."

Dzhokhar had been hiding in the boat that was parked in the garden of a house in the suburb of Watertown. He was captured after the owner spotted blood on the boat and called the police.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev leaves the boat he was hiding in

Dzhokhar is being treated at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston.

Residents in Watertown have held a vigil to remember those who were killed and injured in the attacks. 

As night fell, those gathered at the Watertown High School lit candles as a mark of respect for the victims.

Investigators are trying to establish whether the brothers had assistance leading up to the detonation of bombs made in pressure cookers and packed with ball bearings and nails.

Three people died in the attacks at Monday's marathon and another 176 were injured.

The FBI, which interviewed Tamerlan in 2011 after he was flagged by Russian authorities, believes the older brother was the leader of the pair.

Investigators are checking on people who had contact with both brothers to see if anyone else was involved.

Dzhokhar was shot in the throat and could not speak because of injuries to his tongue, said a source close to the investigation.

It was unclear when he would be able to talk or when he would be charged.

Police look around the corner as Dzhokhar was hiding in a boat nearby

"It's serious ... he's not yet able to speak," Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick told reporters. "We have a million questions - and those questions need to be answered."

Meanwhile, the family that found Dzhokhar bloodied and hiding in their garden have spoken about the discovery of the suspect.

David Hennebury tipped off the authorities after he noticed blood under a tarpaulin covering his boat.

His stepson Robert Duffy said: "As soon as the ban on going out was lifted they went outside and walked around. The wind had picked up and the tarp on the boat had kind of lifted, which he found strange.

"He went over to the boat for a closer look and found a strap that had been cut - not torn or worn through.

"He noticed a small amount of blood in this area and when he went under the tarp he saw a small pool of blood immediately there.

"He looked forward and because the tarp obscured a lot of sunlight, he saw what he believed to be a crumpled body bloodied in the front of the boat.

Massachusetts State Police used infra-red to spot Dzhokhar

"He immediately panicked, dropped off the ladder and called 911, and with all of the SWAT and physical police presence right there in that neighbourhood and street, they descended on them and immediately evacuated them.

"So they are safe, that's the most important thing, and the suspect has been apprehended."

During their getaway attempt, the brothers apparently killed Massachusetts Institute of Technology policeman Sean Collier and severely wounded another officer.

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Texas Plant Explosion: 14 Bodies Recovered

Officials have recovered 14 bodies following a massive explosion that levelled a fertiliser plant and destroyed dozens of homes in West, Texas.

Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt Jason Reyes did not say where the bodies were found but said more information would be provided later.

He says the bodies will be sent to the Dallas County medical examiner's office for identification.

The blast levelled nearby apartments

Sgt Reyes earlier announced that 12 bodies had been recovered by Friday morning and that search and rescue efforts were ongoing.

Senator John Cornyn, speaking earlier to reporters in West, said as many as 60 people remain unaccounted for, but suggested some could be staying with friends and relatives.

Even before investigators released a confirmed number of fatalities, the names of the dead were becoming known in the town of 2,800.

A small group of firefighters and others who may have rushed toward the factory to battle a pre-explosion blaze are believed to be among the dead. Sgt Reyes said he could not confirm how many of those killed were first responders.

Mourners gather for a candle light vigil at a church in West

Authorities said there is no indication that the blast was anything other than an industrial accident. It remains unclear what sparked the blaze.

"We know everyone that was there first, in the beginning," said Christina Rodarte, 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 Ms Rodarte knew and whose name has been 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.

A massive plume of smoke filled the Texas sky after the blast

West's landscape is likely to be altered permanently after an area four to five blocks in radius was levelled by the blast. An apartment complex was badly shattered, a school set ablaze, and a nursing home was left in ruins.

Residents have been kept out of a large swathe of West, where search and rescue teams continue to pick through the rubble.

Some with permission have made forays closer to the destruction and came back stunned - and it is possible other residents will be allowed to retrieve some personal belongings on Friday, emergency workers said.

Texas attorney general Greg Abbott said: "I had an expectation of what I would see, but what I saw went beyond my expectations in a bad way. It is very disturbing to see the site."

Firefighter Darryl Hall, from Thorndale, about 50 miles away from West, was one of the rescue workers helping with the house-to-house search.

He said: "People's lives are devastated here. It's hard to imagine."

A nearby football pitch served as a makeshift triage in the aftermath

A team from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives still had not been able to begin investigating the scene because it remained unsafe, agency spokeswoman Franceska Perot said.

The West Fertilizer Co facility stores and distributes anhydrous ammonia, a fertiliser that can be directly injected into soil, and a blender and mixer of other fertilisers.

Records reviewed by the AP news agency show the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration fined West Fertilizer $10,000 last summer for safety violations that included planning to transport anhydrous ammonia without a security plan.

An inspector also found the plant's ammonia tanks were not properly labelled.

In a risk-management plan filed with the Environmental Protection Agency about a year earlier, the company said it was not handling flammable materials and did not have sprinklers, water-deluge systems, blast walls, fire walls or other safety mechanisms in place at the plant.

State officials require all facilities that handle anhydrous ammonia to have sprinklers and other safety measures because it is a flammable substance, according to Mike Wilson, head of air permitting for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

But inspectors would not necessarily check for such mechanisms, and it is not known whether they did when the West plant was last inspected in 2006, said Ramiro Garcia, head of enforcement and compliance.

That inspection followed a complaint about a strong ammonia smell, which the company resolved by obtaining a new permit, said the commission's executive director Zak Covar.

He said no other complaints had been filed with the state since then, so there have not been additional inspections.

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Texas Explosion: Kindness Amid Destruction

Aerial footage shows a neighbourhood blasted beyond recognition - an astonishing swathe of destruction where people are still missing.

Rescuers continue to pick through the wreckage of the fertiliser plant explosion, which has ripped into this once-normal Texas farming community.

At West's Village Bakery comfort and free food is on tap.

It is at the core of this town's clear instinct to pull together.

The explosion has affected practically everyone here

Only a couple of days ago the owner, Mimi Irwin, was at a local function with volunteer firefighters - some of whom lost their lives while trying to tackle the fire that triggered the blast.

She says: "These people were attorneys, insurance agents, bankers, pharmacists, farmers who all wanted to give.

"And our volunteer fire department is really an honour. They're not paid - they simply do this because they love our town."

People are pulling together as the town counts the human cost of the blast

Steve and Joyce Brock are also doing their bit to help by offering their own home to those who have lost theirs.

Mr Brock said: "If you lose four or five blocks of homes, somebody's going to be homeless, so we watched it before we went to bed and I told Joyce we need to go over there tomorrow and see if we can find somebody who needs a place to stay."

That may include Evelyn Muehlstein, who was alone in her home when the blast struck.

Volunteers have been taking bedding to residents left with nothing

"The ceiling fell down and it was all on the floor," she said. "It was awful, terrible.

"I just don't know what I'll do. I'm 92 years-old and I don't have a house."

Acts of kindness are not difficult to find here. For the moment Ms Muehlstein is being looked after by a neighbour.

Homes were wiped out by the force of the explosion

A mile from the bakery, homes like hers lie in ruins. No one - bar investigators - is allowed past the police cordon.

Officers are also locals. One told us his fear is that the operation is no longer one of rescue but recovery.

It seems everyone has a story to tell here.

As Texas governor Rick Perry put it, the tragedy has affected practically everybody in this small town and there is still looming uncertainty over which of their own was lost trying to save it.

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