VIOLENT EXPLOSION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 February 1940, Page 4

VIOLENT EXPLOSION

UNDER WELLINGTON TRAM. PASSENGERS ESCAPE INJURY. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. A violent explosion which could be heard more than a mile away brought a tram travelling along Adelaide Road toward the city from Island Bay to a sudden halt at about 9.35 o’clock last night. The floor-boards in the front of the car were torn up, the front window shattered, and several other windows were cracked, but the vehicle remained on the tracks and none of the six passengers was injured. The motorman, Mr J. Southwood, and the conductor. Mr A. H. Robertson, both received shock and were taken to their homes. The accident occurred near the junction of Adelaide Road and Chilira Street, and caused a delay of about 20 minutes to tram traffic. The damaged car was towed to the Kilbirnie sheds, where it was reported to have been locked up pending examination by the police.

From descriptions of the explosion it appears that it was external and had nothing to do with the mechanism of the tram. There had been instances in the past of children and irresponsible persons placing detonators on tramlines in Wellington, but it is hardly likely that a detonator would cause an explosion of such violence. It appears possible that a stick of explosive with a percussion cap was placed on the line.