The Santander Disaster.

Feilding Star, Volume XV, Issue 208, 6 January 1894, Page 2

The Santander Disaster.

A NIGHT OF TERROR As already briefly reported by cable, a peculiarly shocking disaster has befallen the prosperous Spanish port of Santander. On Friday afternoon, November 4th, a Spanish steamer, the Cabo Machicaco, with an enormous quantity — computed to be about 500 cases— of what is alleged to hare been contraband dynamite on board, was lying in the port moored alongside a wooden jetty at some distance from the city, but in proximity to a group of houses on the quay. The vessel caught fire in one of her coalbunkers. Efforts were immediately made to extinguish the flames ; but while they were in progress the dynamite in the hold exploded, with the result that the burning ship was blown to atoms, the quay, crowded with excited spectators, was completely wrecked, and loss of life and destruction to property were spread over a very wide area. The steamer was discharging what purported to be general cargo, comprising 2000 tons of iron, many cases of petroleum, a few barrels of wine and some sacks of flour. Had the dynamite on board been declared she would not have been permitted to enter the port; but it | appears that the captain declared only twenty cases of the explosive, the remainder, the clandestine destination of which is still a matter of conjecture, being carefully concealed below. When the alarm was given the danger arising from the presence of dynamite on board, even in the comparatively small quantity declared, was immediately realised ; and the efforts of the Customs authorities, the the police, and others, who hurried to the assistance of the crew, were accordingly directed to removing from the burning ship the cases of dynamite which had been reported. This was successfully accomplished, the twenty cases being landed on the quay, and removed to a distance from the it?amer which was close alongside. The fire spread rapidly, in spite of the frantic endeavors of all on the spot to check its progress; and at half-past four o'clock, about an hour and a half after the first outbreak, it reached the hold in which the petroleum was stored. The tug-boat, on board of which many of the curious townspeople hud scrambled, in the hope of witnessing the unusual spectacle of a ship in flames towed out to sea, was at this moment alongside the Cabo Machichaco, and the effort to get the burning vessel away from her moorings had not been successful. When the fire reached the petroleum a series of tremendous explosions occurred, the petroleum, the ship's boilers, and the enormous cargo of dynamite, apparently exploding one after the other. The burning ship and the tug at her side disappeared, both being literally blown out of the water, while all on board or in the immediate vicinity perished instantly. The quay was not only completely wrecked, but its timbers, its ironwork, and the large crowd of human beings who were at the moment massed on the part of it nearest the Cabo Machichaco's berth, were thrown up high into the air, and scattered in all directions on sea and shore, while flaming pieces of woodwork and debris of every description were projected immense distances, falling in a shower upon houses, buildings, and streets within a radius of over two kilometres. One detail affords a startling illustration of the force estimated, far less comprehended. In whatever the terrorstricken people turned they beheld evidence of the frightful destruction that had taken place and was still proceeding — wrecked and burning ~~ dwellings, injured survivors appealing for assistance, distracted relatives of those who had perished looking for their dead, others anxiously inquiring for absent friends and relatives. An incident of the catastrophe was the destruction of a railway train which, laden with passengers, had ' just arrived at the station when the explosion occurred. The train was wrecked and set on fire, and many of the passengers are reported to have perished. When darkness set in the sky was lurid with the reflection of unchecked and uncontrolled fires in various parts of the town. Mendez Nunez street, which runs parallel with the quay, was ablaze from one end to the other, and the work of searching for, oxtricating from confused heaps, and identifying the dead was carried on amid this biilliant but awful illumination. Nobody attempted to cope with the flames, which raged all night, block after block of buildings being destroyed until the whole street was burned out. During this night of terror the people in thousands abandoned their homes and fled to the fields and outlying villages, while scenes of the most terrible description were being enacted in all the streets surrounding and approaching the harbour. Abandoned children were wandering about weeping piteously for their parents, and in the course of the morning many of these were collected together in the Town Hall and cared for as well as might be. Many of the injured were also found hiding in out-of-the-way places in a state of abject terror, some indeed being in a perfectly imbecile condition. On Saturday morning Santander, which twenty-four hours previously had been, with good reason, counted among the most flourishing towns in all Spain, resembled a city of the dead. The shops remained closed, the streets were for the most part deserted, and the houses remained just has they had been abandoned during the night by their terror-stricken occupants. It is computed that between 600 and 1000 people were killed ; but as yet no authoritative statement as to the actual loss of life sustained in the catastrophe has been published. Santander, a thriving seaport on the north coast of Spain, stands on an inlet of the Bay of Biscay, about equally distant from Oviedo on the west nnd San Sebastian on the east,., and by rail 316 miles north of Madrid. A number of divers were set * to work to recover the corpses from the sea, but they were so appalled by the number that they refused to proceed, and begged the authorities not to compel them to undertake the task. In consequence of the repugnance of the divers to descend men were employed with grappling irons to recover the bodies.