COAL EXPLOSION
IN FIREPLACE
By Teleg.aph—Per Press Association J
CHRISTCHURCH, June 21
Two elderly people, M r -J-. Gallagher and his . wife, were badly hurt this evening when the fireplace in’ front of which they were sitting, blew up with a terrific detonation. A blinding sheet of flame leapt out. Debris, steel, and brick flew in all directions. Tho windows were blown out, and everything breakable in the room was broken. The iron bars of the grate were blown in all directions, one being deeply embedded in the opposite wall.
The explosion occurred after Mr Gallagher put a shovelful of coal on the fire, almost instantaneously. The exnlosion rocked the house.
Mr* Gallagher was thrown backwards in her chair. Mr Gallagher, on the other side of the hearth, was also thrown down, falling half buried in the bricks from the wrecked chimney.
The family cat, a big Persian, lying on the hearth, was killed by a sharp piece of steel going through its brain.
Both Mr and Mrs Gallagher were sent to the hospital, suffering from burns. Their condition is reported as not being serious. . Tho cause of the burst was probably explosive in the coal, which was drawn from a supply that has boon in the house for some time.
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Hokitika Guardian, 22 June 1929, Page 6
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211COAL EXPLOSION Hokitika Guardian, 22 June 1929, Page 6
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