A TERRIFIC EXPLOSION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 250, 12 March 1913, Page 5

A TERRIFIC EXPLOSION

DYNAMITE WORKS DESTROYED. I, PERSONS KILLED. By Cable I —Press Association —Copyright. London, March ID. There was a terrific explosion of dynamite at Nobel's works at Irvine, Ayrshire. Churches and houses were damaged. Six persons were killed, and seven were seriously and two critically injured. A dozen villages were shaken. I lie explosion originated in a guncotton drying shed. SENSATIONAL DETAILS. HARROWING SO EXES. Received 12. ]2..">!) a.m. London, .March 11. Details of the explosion at Nobel's factory state that a bluish llaine leaped skywards, followed by e. tremendous concussion, four times repeated as the guncotton in the four buildings exploded. The brick buildings were instantly reduced to a heap of debris. The air was thick \a itii flying masonry, stones and glass. A dense smoke settled like a pall over the scene. Those killed wire engaged in unloading a drying stove. The origin of the explosion is a mystery. Ihe men in adjacent buildings were bowled over like ninepins. The shock ivas felt over a radius of twenty miles, and the sound was beard throughout Ayrshire. Windows even i.ittled in Glasgow. Practically every window in Irvine and for half a mile away was broken. Buildings rocked and ceilings fell. The school children were in a state of panic, and horses bolted. Windows were broken in Troon, and , many birds were killed. Two thousand were employed at. the factoiv. Ihere .were heartrending scenes, the relatives Hocking to learn news.