A TERRIBLE EXPLOSION

Taranaki Daily News, 7 October 1918, Page 4

A TERRIBLE EXPLOSION

AT MUNITIONS FACTORY. HEAVTDAMAGE AND LOSS OF LIE^ Received Oct. 0, 5.5 pjn. New York, Oct. 6. | At Perthamboy, New Jersey, two exi> plosious occurred in the tri-nitro-toluol. magazine and destroyed the Gellespie plant. Over 100 are missing, and fires are spreading rapidly. The shock wa& felt in New York. It is believed that! twenty-five firemen lost their lives. Ofl the thousand employed only one hundred) are accounted for. The scattering sheUff were exploding everywhere. It is estfa mated that 100 lives were lost and huiw dreds injured. The plant was levelled. More than two thousand men were) working when the first explosion oc-i curred. It was followed by a :euccession of greater explosions, buildings being blown up on all sides. Many workers were trapped by the high barbed wira fence around the plant. , . It is estimated that the casualties number more than 700. Two thousand people left the neighboring villages dur-: ing the night for fear of further expltH siona. : Later. The Perthamboy explosions windows being continuously broken. While a trainload of explosives stood! on the track near the plant, an unknown fireman jumped aboard, started the loco-* i motive and took the cars out of danger. Then a shell struck him, killing him in* stantly. Refugees allege that they saw an acro« I plane circling over the plant before thQ explosion.—Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc.

FIRES STILt RAGING.

FURTHER EXPLOSION'S IMMINENT, DAMAGE ESTIMATED'AT ETCE MILLION. Received Oct. 6, 11 p.aC, New York, Ootfl 6. Fires raging at Perthamboy madeaps proach closer than two miles An unofficial list of the dead totals 140; A dozen towns were badly shaken. The Mayor of New York las ordered the subway leading to New Jersey ahorq to be closed. Further explosions aire tow minent. The communities around Morgan* where the plant is situated, have evacu* ated completely. Thousands, of residents; throng the roads. The scene is com*? parable to that of the early days oi thai war in Belgium. Many rare living ist tents, and are afraid to-return. Thedam-! age is estimated at £5,000,000. —Press! Association.