TEXAS CITY ROCKED AGAIN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 67, Issue 159, 18 April 1947, Page 3

TEXAS CITY ROCKED AGAIN

SECOND NITRATE SHIP BLOWS UP Damage Estimated At 125,000,000 Dollars (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright.) (Received This Day, 9.30 a.m.) NEW YORK, April 17. Two new explosions rocked Texas City at 2.5 a.m. Witnesses say that both explosions occurred aboard the freighter Highflyer, carrying 100 tons of ammonium nitrate. The vessel was burning fiercely before the explosions. Pieces of the ship flew a quarter of a mile into the air, and a large section was blown inland. The explosion, which occurred while tugs were towing the ship to open water, is stated to have killed two persons and injured 30. The full death-roll from the earlier disaster, in which the Liberty ship Grand Camp, blew up, is not yet known, but the number is estimated to be at least 700. Early to-day fires were still raging in the city. The doctor who is co-ordinating the medical facilities in Texas City said that most of the deaths were caused by blast and shock. A relatively small percentage of the casualties were due to bums. i The Grand Camp entered Texas City harbour on April 21, but bad weather delayed loading until yesterday. It is believed she had a crew of nine officers and 32 men. <■ In the first official Press release issued by the City DeputyMayor, Mr J. H. Hill, it was announced that 430 bodies have already been counted. Ninety-nine per cent, of the homes have been damaged and 50 per cent, of the residents have fled the city. The damage is now estimated at at least 125,000,000 dollars, of which the major items are the Grand Camp, the Highflyer, two smaller ships, several barges, 50 oil storage tanks, the 19,000,000-dollar Monsanto Chemical Company’s plant, most of the docks, warehouses and office buildings along the waterfront, and 500 automobiles parked in the area of the tanks of chlorine gas which exploded.

The circumstances under which Grand Camp’s ammonium nitrate exploded so far are unknown, but it is suggested that a minor explosion during the fire, together with the intense heat, set it off. Chemists said that if any part of the fertiliser exploded the entire shipload would detonate simultaneously. The Grand Camp was 7176 tons, built at Wilmington, California, where she was launched late in 1942. The “New York Daily News” says the fire which set off the chain of explosions started in the tobacco and binder-twine the Grand Camp had taken on at Tampico, Mexico, a week ago. The fire raced through the hold and quickly spread to 3000 tons of ammonium nitrate that had just been loaded for shipment to France. The total value of the Grand Camp’s cargo is estimated at 3,000,000 dollars. To-night the scene of the explosion is a city of flames, torn steel and smoking rubble where the dead are uncounted and the living too dazed and weary to cry. Scores of bodies are stacked on benches and tables in a mid-town garage and in the high school gymnasium. Dozens of embalmers are at work in the garage where the slow process of identification also goes on. When identification and embalming are completed the body is wrapped in

a rough brown blanket and a numbered ticket is wired to it. An ambulance takes the body to the gymnasium. A mile away black smoke from six roaring fires billows 5000 feet into the air, and drifts south over the Gulf of Mexico. Fifty acres of where city buildings once stood is now a picture of utter desolation. Red Cross headquarters said that the Texas City explosion ranks among the major disasters in United States history. It added that the raging fires prevented rescue workers approaching the scene. An eye-winess, Dr. Lane, a research specialist of the Mosanto Chemical Company, told the United Press that he was looking out of a windQW this morning and he saw the French ship on fire. Almost immediately about 500 citizens lined the waterfront to watch the fire. Suddenly there was a frightful explosion as the ship disintegrated. Everyone in Dr. Lane’s office was sent sprawling to the floor and the wall of the building collapsed. “We ran out in a hurry,” he said. “Three or four other explosions followed, and I learned that, at least two other ships had exploded. I staggered away from the explosion area, passing scores of bodies. The fire spread like wildfire. It was a horrible sight seeing all those bodies and not being able to help.”