EXPLOSIONS AT MANCHESTER

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 215, 25 August 1927, Page 7

EXPLOSIONS AT MANCHESTER

HUGE GASOMETERS WRECKED FRAGMENTS HURLED 500 YARDS London, Aug. 23. Two gasometers, each containing two million cubic feet of gas, exploded with terrific force at the Manchester gasworks, the noise being heard five miles away. Eighteen persons in the vicinity were injured and there were a number of remarkable escapes from death. There were two explosions in raprl succession, and fragments were hurdled 500 yards and windows were smashed. A workman 200 yards distant was lifted 18 inches into the air. Cars rushed the victims to hospital and a strong force of .police and firemen cleared adjacent streets, and closed shops and schools. Another gasometer nearby, said to be the largest in the world, escaped. —(A. and N.Z.) LIKE COMBINED TYPHOON AND EARTHQUAKE. London, Aug. 23. “Like a combined typhoon and earthquake,” is how eye-witnesses describe the terrific explosion at th Manchester Corporation gasworks, which were recently reconstructed at a cost of £900,000.

The explosion tore a great hole in one gasometer and a gigantic sheet of flame shot skyward. The second gasometer was fired and blazed fiercely Walls 400 yards distant were thrown down. A woman was blown from her bed and a workman was flung down. 'There were coke lorries near the gasometers and it is feared the drivers were badly burned. A dense green pall hung over the city. The fire brigade was able to confine the flames to the burning gasometers, although six others were in danger. The manager denies that the explosion is connected with the Sacco and Vanzetti agitations.—(A. and N.Z.)