DEATHROLL OF 400 AND 5000 INJURED

Chronicle (Levin), 20 August 1947, Page 5

DEATHROLL OF 400 AND 5000 INJURED

(N.Z.P.A.—

Reuter ,

Almost Every Building In The City Damaged

, Copyright)

Received Wednesday, 9.35 a.m. JVIADRID, August 19. It is feared that 400 wece killed and 5000 injured in § terrific explosion which occurred last night in the shipyard§ at Cadiz. All the Cadiz hospitals are filled with injured, while some have been sent to hospitals in nearby towns. Almost every building in the city was damaged. The explosion originate.d in a chemical warehouse at the shipyards and spread to a stock" of torpedoes and munitions at a submarine depot half a mile away. The Spanish news agency says that at least 100 torpedoes' blew up. The explosion shook houses fifteen -miles away and the repercussions were felt in Seville 60 miles distant. The authorities have forbidden all except rescue workers, doctors and nurses to enter the city. In response to urgent calls for help, the Gibraltar Fire Brigade rushed to Cadiz. Reports from San Fernando, about ten miles from Cadiz at the tip of the promontory on which Cadiz is situated, state that a succession of explosions caused many fires, which are now being controlled. The worst hit area is the lower part of the promontory. Sappers and thousands of workmen are combing- the ruins for victims believed to be entombed. The people of Jerez and Seville broadcast appeals for help, and a plane load of medical supplies has been flown from Madrid. Explosions throughout the night wrecked houses in the poor quarter of San Severiano like a continuous earthquake. The Spanish Cabinet, after an emergency session, announced that it was taking most urgent mea^arcs to deal with the explosion. The Minister oi' Navy, al Moreno, is leaving Madrid to take charge in Cactiz.

It is feared that most of 120 children and nuns lie dead beneath the debris of the La Casa Cuna Orphanage, which was destroyed by the explosion. The authorities have blanketed censorship over the explosion area and patrolling troops are keeping out newspaper correspondents. The

military confiscated films belongmg to three Spanish photographers who contrived to reach the scenes of destruction. The blast caused the Madre de Dios hospital to'cave in, and it is feared that 100 workers are entombed under the wreckage of a small factory near the scene of the blast.