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Country icon sends prayer tweet after Texas blast

Posted at 4:20 AM, Apr 18, 2013
and last updated 2013-04-18 05:23:19-04

WEST, Texas (AP) - Country music legend Willie Nelson is sending out his prayers via Twitter after a deadly fertilizer plant explosion rocked West, Texas, a small community north of Waco near where he grew up.

"West has been in my backyard all my life," Nelson tweeted early Thursday. "My heart is praying for the community that we call home."

When not on the road touring, Nelson has lived in Austin, Texas, since 1971. But he was born and grew up 120 miles north of the state capital, in tiny Abbott, which is about five miles north of West.

The explosion Wednesday at West Fertilizer injured dozens of people and officials say there were fatalities.

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