TERRIFIC GUNPOWDER EXPLOSION ON THE REGENT'S CANAL.

Auckland Star, Volume V, Issue 1492, 21 November 1874, Page 2

TERRIFIC GUNPOWDER EXPLOSION ON THE REGENT'S CANAL.

A telegram to the New York Herald gives the following further particulars of the explosion of four tons of gunpowder in a barge, on the Regent's Canal, London :— London, October 2.—There is great excitemenjj in the city in consequence of an explosion this morning, in Regent's Canal. At 5 o'clock a.m., a barge, lying in that waterway, near the Zoological Gardens, with a load of gunpowder on board, exploded with terrific force. Three persons were killed, and many hurt. The bridges and houses in the vicinity were shattered. The report of the explosion was heard at a distance of twenty miles from the place where it occurred. The lights in a railway station, and in other buildings, were extinguished by the concussion. Many persons had narrow escapes fr->m death. Fireman have been dragging the canal all tbe morning. Up to this hour five bodies of victims of the explosion have been recovered. The quantity of powder that exploded was four tons. Details of the occurrence show that its disastrous effects were widespread. Many trees were uprooted ; and houses located two miles distant from the canal, were shattered. Seven persons are yet missing. Several persons died from fright. A number of animals m the Zoological Gardens were killed. There was a perfect panic here for hours ; and it was not until the cause of the terrible report was learned, that tbe fears of the people were allayed. r