EXPLOSION AT MUNITION FACTORY.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 January 1917, Page 4

EXPLOSION AT MUNITION FACTORY.

CAUSED BY A FIRE.

BETWEEN SO AND 40 BODIES RECOVERED. 100 SERIOUSLY INJURED. Received Jan. 21, ■;..) Loudon, Jan. 20. Official.- There wn,' an explosion in a munitions factory in the neighbourhood of London last evening. It ,s feared that there wa-, considerable loss of life and much damage done. AN" OFFICIAL STATEMENT. Received .Jan. 21, o.:X> p.m. London, .lan. : 1(.. The Ministry or Munitions has .sailed an official report, which states that the lire started in a factory, eastward of London, employed for rcfi'img explosives, and a few minutes afterwards the ex plosion occurred, many of the operatives escaping. Meanwhile all the explosives and the factory were completely destroyed. Fires were caused in the neighbouring warehouses and factories, including an important flour mill.

The explosion was felt for a great distance.

Tiireo rows of houses in the neighbourhood were practically demolished, and other property was considerably damaged or destroyed. Two firemen were killed, and llio chief chemist of the factory, together with a number of the workers, were killed and buiicd. The number killed in the factory and in the neighborhood has not been ascertained. Owing to the warning the casualties were not nearly so heavy as anticipated. Between thirty and forty bodies have been recovered. About 100 are reported seriously injured. It is officially stated that the accident will make no practical difference in the output. The King and the Government have expressed their sympathy with the sufferers. ORIGIN OF THE FIRE. THE CHIEF CHE JUST'S HEROISM. A TERRIBLE DETONATION. Received Jan. 21, 11.5 p.m. London, Jan. 21. The fire started in the mixing shop. Dr. Angell, the chief chemist, whilst advising the operatives to seek safety, himself attempted to combat the fire, ind perished. The flames spread to the adjoining building, wherein a quantity of liiglt explosives were stored. Buildings miles away rockesd with the force of the dctoimtion. There was great destruction of glass over an enormous urea, while an awful bouquet fell on the I surrounding buildings.

Firemen,, police, ambulances, and military rushed to the scene. The casualties were so heavy that the ambulances proved insufficient to remove the victims to the hospitals, so the military ambulances were summoned, and motor 'buses ai: 1 other vehicles in the streets were requisitioned. Finally* a five mimvU convoy was organised, and the more seriously injured were quickly conveyed to the hospitals, which were commandeered. It was impossible for the doctors and nurses at the hospitals to keep a record of the number of patients.

There was a terrible scene when a large seven-storied (lour mill burst into flames, and it is feared that many perished therein, but owing to the impossibility of getting such a blaze under control, the firemen wcTe obliged to devote their energies to saving neighbouring property. The flames spread swiftly, until over an area of nearly ai square mile fire* were burning, making it necessary to demolish several buildings in order to cheek its progress. The firemen were thus able to restrict the fire to a definite area. Throughout the night and well into the day they worked heroically. Nurses, ambulance men, boy scouts, and girl guides cooperated to alleviate Buffering. Many pathetic incidents are recorded. Many ' munition workers were enabled l.i leave the. building in the interval '.h ■ tvu'cn the outbreak of the fire and the explosion. The force of the explosion was felt-seven or eight miles away, -ml many windows were broken. Those living in the city, and in hotels on the Thames Embankment, thought that an earthquake had occurred. An eye-witness living three miles away described the spectacle as appalling. The sky for miles around gleamed like burnished copper. A SCENE OP DESOLATION.

The area presents a wide scene ot desolation, with smoking ruins, walls shattered, roofs Mown off, windows and doors tore from their fastenings, remnants of chimneys and gables litterinj, the causeways. At the sound of the first explosion the inhabitants rushed into the streets terror-stricken, and the second explosion caught them, for. as the concussion stripped the roofs, showers of slates fell on their unprotected heads. Numbers were injured in this way. But the destruction and terror in tlu lanes in this vicinity were nothing as compared with the appalling scenes nearer the region of the explosion and fire?.. A series of fires quickly developed over a considerable urea, and great factories, employing many men, women, and girls, were soon gigantic masses of flames, the glow lighting the river and suburbs for miles. Dismantled houses were used as temporary mortuaries, while private houses received the more seriously injured. The explosion was one of the most terrible in the experience of the metropolis, the entire city, right to the outlying suburbs, being shaken. The fires caused by the flying debris enveloped an area, involving a number of industrial concerns, and many houses. Forty are reported killed, but this is apparently the estimate of the first accident at the factory, which was entirely destroyed. As the foe spread, roof after roof collapsed with terrific crashes, and amid a scene oi awful grnn<leui.

Evidence of the force of the explosion was. shown by a piece of boiler, weighing three or four tons, being found in a field 400 yards away. Another piece, weighing a ton, crashed into a butcher's shop, killino the occup*\|| '"" "'

BETWEEN 50 AND 60 DEATHS.

NOBLE RESCUE WORK. Received Jan -2i, 1-2.35 a.m. London, Jan. 2t. Twenty-one died n ten hospitals ye» iorday, therefore the death-roll i» now between 50 and CO The patient) in hospital number 112, and, in addition, 2Sa (if the more slightly injured are being treated. People (led from burning and shattered buildings, but soon found a readjr sanctuary. All .'lasses were mobilised tor succoiu of the injured rescue of the living fron - the wreckage. Everyone, men and women, were nobly playing a part, (treat crowd* congregated, but sight-seers were not permitted within a mile or more of the actual scene.

The origin cannot actually be determined at present. The establishment was in a cordon zone, ml the operations averted confusion and panic. The firemen's task was difficult ..nd dangeroiF, but ultimately they overcame all obstacles. There were some remarkable rescues. The combined cH'oHs of the firemen, soldiers, police, and members of the ambulance were marked b} high courage, and presence of mind, Mum Baving many. Considering the magnitude of the disaster, the wonder is that the deaths were not far greater. The power of modern high explosives was plainly demonstrated by boilei-plates, weighing toiiß, being hurled hundreds of yards. Twisted iron girders fell at greater distances, while) a rain of smaller fragments was. scat* tered widely, and started fires in thej neighboring factories. ...