Explosion Damages Air Force Depot

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32235, 2 March 1970, Page 14

Explosion Damages Air Force Depot

(Nctc Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, March 1.

A loud explosion, apparently caused by a bomb, shattered nearly a dozen windows in an Air Force storage depot in Fox Street, Parnell, at 10.15 p.m. today.

Nearby residents reported hearing a loud boom, followed by the tinkling of glass. The first police patrols on the scene saw smoke in the air near a window of the building.

Several fire engines were summoned, but it appeared there was no fire. The building is the No. 1 transport depot, freight and transport section, of the R.N.Z.A.F. northern area office. A small office immediately inside the two storeyed build ing was wrecked by the explosion. The ceiling had col-

lapsed and walls hung at drunken angles. Woodwork partitions were shattered. Some pieces were lying several yards from the! office and one piece was on! the footpath outside. A small cabinet was blown apart and packing cases outside had been blown over. Timber beams, broken chairs and glass littered the office floor. Two vans, a car and a forklift truck inside the! depot were undamaged. Late tonight detectives and! firemen were examining the J interior. They were awaiting, the arrival of explosives experts and Air Force officers I The police said there appeared to- be no sign of a forced entry having been! made to the building before, the explosion.