CITY OF FLAMES

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

CITY OF FLAMES

LIKE WAR-BOMBED PLOESTI OIL TANKS BLAZING FURIOUSLY (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright.) (Rec. 11.20) .NEW YORK, April 17. Texas City, the scene of yesterday's terrific explosions, is still being 1 rocked by explosions to-day. The city is now the scene of flames, wrecked buildings and uncounted dead. Three new explosions rocked the de instated waterfront this morning. Two of these were on the freighter, High flyer, and the third was an oil tank. An airport control officer, 38 miles away saw the flash when the Highflyer exploded, and fires in the city were visible all night from a distance of 70 miles. Dr. Clarence Quinn, medical co-or dinator. estimated the dead at 650, and the injured at 3000. Digging for bodies continues, and a loud-speaker at the city hall appealed: “Will more workers return to the dock and help to remove the bodies just located.” The Red Cross said that the police were still looking for a bus loaded with children which disappeared after leaving Texas City yesterday. A deputy constable, Herbert Whitmore, of Galveston, said that all ot Texas City was liable to go if the wind turned back to the south. He added that if the tanks started burning, it would not be possible to stop them.

The general chlornine danger is now reported to be light, as the only known gases at the Monsanto plant were styrene, propane and butane. Thousands of homeless residents have been removed by army trucks, buses, trains and private cars to distant points. Police Chief Lasish said that only essential personnel would be permitted to remain in the stricken area. No one except those on emergency or official business would he permitted to enter the city. It is stated that a large percentage of the 500 Monsanto chemical employees were killed or injured, and more than 100 are still not accounted for. Ships Disappear The Associated Press, summing up the present situation, says that seven minor explosions occurred since daybreak as oil tanks collapsed. Flames are creeping near eight leaking highoctane petrol tanks, which may explode. No efforts are being made to fight the fires until the explosion danger has passed. . x , The correspondent of the Associated Press, after flying over the city, said flaming Texas City looks from the air like the peacetime parallel to warbombed Ploesti. He added that the fire-ravaged industrial section and the peaceful residential areas offered a striking contrast. One is a two-mile wide torch and the other is a living pattern of a deserted village, its fate still dependent on whether the present favourable- wind direction continues. At least a score of raw oil storage tanks, each holding hundreds of thousands of gallons, are blazing furiously, engulfed in orange and black waves of hurricane fire. They are studded among scores of other tanks which are still intact, but may flare up at any moment. A light wind ripples the muddy waters of Galveston Bay. There is no trace of the Grand or the Highflyer. The waves have swallowed the ships, cargoes and crews. The correspondent said the line of major damage is strikingly marked, as if done by perfect precision bombing. In four years of war coverage he saw no concentrated damage so utter except atombombed Nagasaki. The damage at Texas City exceeded in intensity that inflicted by Nazi bombers on Bari, Italy, when 17 ships burned and explosions killed hundreds of troops and civilians. No Looting Red Cross officials, state that the known dead now total 714 ana injured over 3000. In addition to 714 dead counted to date, 200 are believed to be buried in the dqbris along the waterfront. Police patrolling the area say that no looting has been reported. Feeding the homeless is a major task of the Red Cross and Salvation Armv. Some of the heroes of the earlier blasts did not survive later ones. Father Roach, of St. Mary’s, ignored workmen’s warnings and went to the dockside to minister to the dying and was killed by an explosion.

Among many weird details is the story of a naval lieutenant who did rescue work yesterday and well into the night. He told his men he had better call his wife and tell her he was all right. As he turned to leave the waterfront the Highflyer blew up, and a piece of flying steel sheared off his right leg. A Red Cross spokesman said the exact death toll may never be known because many were blown to pieces, and there were many migratory workers registered by name only, and it. is doubtful whether their own relatives even know thev were in Texas City. The deputy mayor of Texas City said: ‘‘We are not out ,of the woods yet.” He expressed the opinion that no more major blasts would occur, and that the main problem was fire fighting and policing, and the biggest worry was possible new oil fires. Asked why the Highflyer was not moved out to sea, he replied that the delay resulted from unfounded rumours that the ship was loaded witli T.N.T. with the result that tug crews refused to take their c-raft near the Highflyer. Fires Subsiding Furious waterfront fires in Texas City began to subside this afternoon. Explosions have censed, and the end is in sight to a chain of disaster which

wrecked 1 lie port and left about a fifth of its population dead or injured . As 1 lie flames and smoke from burning oil storages along the waterfront abated, rescue workers were at last able to approach the devastated Monsanto chemical plant, where more bodies were recovered. A survey reveals Ihat Ibis area containing 70 blocks, extending in an arc back from the waterfront, was hit hardest. Further back the damage was less severe, and here a few residents this afternoon were sweeping glass from footpaths. A handful of downtown stores were open for business. Water and electricity utilities are being restored, and it is planned to sprav the citv with D.D.T. Looting is reported to he at a minimum, although valuables were strewn about. Many thousand dollars of cash and war bonds were scattered on the floor of one shattered bank.