Youths Injured In Explosion

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30591, 6 November 1964, Page 1

Youths Injured In Explosion

.An explosion which rocked nearby houses and was heard all over central New Brighton was followed by screams from the foreshore last night. Two boys had suffered severe injuries when a home-made bomb containing sodium nitrate and other chemicals exploded in sandhills near the New Brighton Surf Club pavilion.

Christopher Calvert, aged 16, a schoolboy of 66 Pages road, suffered severe hand injuries. He was admitted to the Christchurch Hospital, where his condition was reported to be fair.

Kenneth Slade, an apprentice mechanic, aged 17, of 636 Pages road, suffered severe wounds in the chest and throat injuries. He was admitted to the hospital, and his condition was reported to be serious.

The accident happened shortly before 10 p.m. The explosion was heard by persons living in North New Brighton. Screams from the boys attracted a large crowd. Christopher Calvert was quickly found, bleeding profusely from severely injured hands and in a state of extreme shock. He was taken by private car to the surgery of Dr. J. M. Bird, Pages road. Dr. Bird immediately ordered him to hospital.

Three calls were made to the St. John Ambulance Association, the first at 9.42 p.m. Kenneth Slade could not at first be found in the darkness in the sandhills. He stopped screaming as he became unconscious.

He was found after Calvert had been taken to Dr. Bird, and was taken to the Christchurch Hospital by ambulance.

The police late last night found small fragments of a tin, which had contained the chemicals, in the sandhills. The bomb had a string fuse, but this had not been lit. The bomb apparently exploded when one of the boys shook it. Youth Arrested A youth, aged about 18. was arrested on a charge of disorderly behaviour, allegedly throwing fireworks under cars and a cracker in the face of a constable, at New Brighton. He will appear in the Magistrate’s Court today. The Christchurch Fire Brigade had only one fire call between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. (compared with 27 last Guy Fawke’s Day). A small scrub fire on the foreshore opposite Thomsons Park, North New Brighton, was put out by volunteer firemen from New Brighton.