SEARCH FOR THE DEAD

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 203, 16 November 1927, Page 9

SEARCH FOR THE DEAD

PITTSBURGH GAS-TANK EXPLOSION BODIES IN WATER BENEATH RUINS

By Cable.—Press Association. — Copyright. Received 10.20 a.m. PITTSBURGH, Tuesday. TWENTY-FOUR hours after the gas-tank explosion, the authorities were still unable to estimate the total number of the persons killed, because many bodies are believed to be buried beneath the ruins of the tank and the adjacent claypot plant.

are still removing the tangled steel debris from'both, and pumping 16 feet of water from the flooded basement of the latter. Officials declared that it will be impossible to compile a complete list of the dead until this work is finished, but rescuers have already reported seeing the bodies of 23 more men in the water under the ruins of the claypot plant. Ninety-five men, women and children remain in hospitals, mostly in a serious condition, and at least 50 persons are still missing. Before nightfall temporary mortuaries were set up near the centre of the scene. Army tractors were used to help to demolish the damaged walls. The rescue work was hazardous, be

cause of the possibility of the torches igniting the escaped gas in the ruins. An eye-witness who was working a quarter of a mile from the scene said he heard an explosion, and then saw a great ball of fire 100 ft. in diameter rise from the tank into the air. Motorists on the other side of the Ohio River, who were in glass-enclosed cars, felt the heat of the fireball through the ddors of the cars. Another man said he could not see an uninjured person anywhere. A man who was in his office across the street on the 25th storey, said he felt the building sway as if there were an earthquake. It is suggested that legislation should be enacted to prohibit the placing of gas tanks within the limts of cities.—A. and N.Z.