EXPLOSION IN A BRITISH MUNITION FACTORY
ABOUT FORTY KDLLED-A HUNDRED SERI@USLY INJURED
By Telegraph—Press 'Assn.—Copyright. (Rec, January 21, 5.25 p.m.) London, January 20. Ministry of Munitions official report: A fire started in a factory castward of London, employed in refining explosives. A few minutes afterwards there was an explosion, many operatives escaping. Meanwhile all explosives and the factory were completely destroyed. Fires were caused in neighbouring warehouses and factories, including an important flour mill. The explosion was felt at a great distance. Three rows of houses in the neighbourhood were practically demolished, and other property (considerably damaged or destroyed. Two firemen were killed. The chief chemist of tlie factory .and a, number of workers were killed and buried in tlie ruins. The number killed in the factory and in tho neighbourhood has not teen ascertained. Owing to warning, the casualties were not nearly as heavy as anticipated. Between thirty and forty /bodies have been recovered, and about a hundred are reported to ho seriously injured. . It is officially stated that the accident will make 110 practical difference to tho output of munitions.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.-Iteuter. APPALLING SCENES IN THE VICINITY OF THE EXPLOSION (Reo. January 21, 11.5 .p.m.) London, January 21. The fire started in the mixing shop. Dr. lAngell, the chief chemist, whilst advising the operatives to seek safety,, himself attempted to combat the fire, and perished. The flames spread ,to tho adjoining building, in which a quantity of high explosives was stored. Buildings for miles away rocked with the forces of the detonation. There was a great destruction of glass over an enormous area, while an awful bouquet fell on tho surrounding buildings. ■ Firemen, police, ambulances, and tho military rushed to the scene. Tho Casualties were so heavy'that the ambulances wero insufficient to remove the yiotims to tho hospitals. Military ambulances were summoned and moterbuses and other veliicles in the streets requisitioned; finally a five-minute iconvoy was organised, and the more seriously injured were quickly con.veyed to tho hospitals, which wero commandeered. It was impossible for the_ doctors and nursss in tho hospitals to keep a record of the number of patients. Thero was a terrible scene when a large seven-storied flour mill hurst into flames; as it was feared that many therein had perished, but. owing to the_ impossibility ol : getting such a blazo under control, tho firemen wero obliged to devote their energies to saving tho neighbouring property. The flames spread swiftly until over an area of nearly a square mile fires were burning, making it necessary to demolish several buildings to check their progress. The firemen wero thus able to restriot them to a definite Srea. • Throughout the night and well into the day they worked heroically. Nurses, ambulance men, Boy Scouts, and Girl Guides co-operated to tolleviate suffering, and • many pathetic incidents wero recorded. Many munitioners were enabled to leavo tho building in the interval between the outbreak and tha explosion. Tho force of the oxplosion was felt seven or eight miles away, and many (windows were broken. Those living in city hotels on the Thames EinbankIment thought it was an earthquake. ' An eye-witness, who was three miles away, described tho appalling spectacle. Ho says the sky for raiks areund gleamed like burnished copper. Tho area presents a wido sceno of desolation—smoking ruins, walls shattered, roofs blown off, windows and doors torn from their fasteniligs, land remnants of chimneys -ind gables littering the causeways. At tho sound of the first explosion tho inhabitants rushed into tho Streets terror-stricken. Tho second explosion caught them as the concussion fctrippedthe roofs, showers of slates fell on unprotected heads, numbers being injured in this way. But the destruction and terror in tho lanes in Hie vicinity -jvero nothing compared to tho appalling scencs nearer the region of the explosion and fires. A series of fires, quickly developed over a considerable area, and great factories, employing many men, women, and girls, wvo soon gigantic masses of flames, tho glow, lighting tho river suburbs for miles. The-dismantled houses wero, used as temporary mortuaries, and private houses received tho moro seriously wounded. Tho people fled from tho burning, shattered buildings,- but soon found a. ready sanctuaiy. All classes mobilised to succour tlio wounded and rescue the living from tho wreckage, everyono, mon and women, nobly playing his or her part. Great crowds congregated, but sightseers wore not permittee! within S. mile or more of tho actual scene. Tho origin cannot actually bo determined at present. Tho_establishment of a cordon in tho zono of operations averted confusion Swd panic. The firemen's tasKwas difficult and dangerous, hut ultima Inly they overborne all obstacles. There wero some remarkable resuuot!. Tho combined efforts of firemen, feoldieis, police, and ambulance men wero marked by liigh courage and preßenco of mind in caving many. Considering tlio magnitude of tho disaster, tho ,Wonder is that the number of death's was not far greaterTho power of modern high explosives was plainly demonstrated. Boilerplate" weighing tons wero hurled hundreds of yards, and twisted iron girders foil greater distances. Tho rain of small fragments scattered widely started firos in neighbouring factories.—'A'lis.-N.Z. Cablo Assn.TERRIFIC FORCE OF THE EXPLOSION (Hoc. January 21, 11.15 p.m.)' London, January 21. The explosion was ono of tho nme torriblo experienced in tho Eietropolis. (The entiro city to the outlying suburbs was shakon. Fires were caused by flying debris from tho enveloped a rea, involving a ilUmber of industrial concerns and many houses. Forty are reported killed, but this is apparently an estimate of tho first accident to-the factory, which was entirely destroyed. -. As the fire spread, roof after Toof collapsed with terrific' crashes, and the. Scene was ono of awful grandeur. As cvidonce of tho forco of the explosion a piece of a boiler weighing threo or four tons was found in a field four hundred yards away. Another piece a ton woighfc crashed through; aj butcher's shop, killing ihe occuD&utai.—Renter*
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Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2983, 22 January 1917, Page 5
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983EXPLOSION IN A BRITISH MUNITION FACTORY Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2983, 22 January 1917, Page 5
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