GIRL KILLED BY EXPLOSION IN FACTORY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 146, 5 June 1936, Page 4

GIRL KILLED BY EXPLOSION IN FACTORY

Five Others Hurt

AUCKLAND TRAGEDY Havoc in Ammunition Company’s Premises MANY SUFFER SHOCK By Telegraph—Press Association. AUCKLAND, Jane 4. A girl was killed and flvo other people were injured as the result of an explosion, the first in more than 60 years, at the Colonial Ammunition Co’s premises in Normandy road, Mount Eden, shortly after three o’clock this afternoon. Many employees were cut by flying glass from windows and skylights shattered by the explosion, and others suffered shock. Part of ono wall of the main building was demolished. The victims were:— PATBICJA CLIFFOBD, aged 18, ma chinist, of 14 George street, Dominion read; died from injuries. AI.BEET ELLIOTT, aged 31, mu. ried, engineer, of Boyal Oak; injuries to the face and body and shock. VIOLET MABY COTTEBELL, aged 27,machinist, of Eden Terrace; injuries to the body and shock. ANNIE CHRISTINA GUPTILL, aged 16, machinist, of Newton; injurie.. to the body anu shock, PHYLLIS JUPP, aged 22, machinist, of Epsom; abrasions to the body and shock, t ELSIE BONA HOUGHTON, aged 33, machinist, of Kingsland; abrasions to the body. Those injured were admitted to Uk Auckland Hospital. None was in a sori ous condition. NEIGHBOURHOOD SHAKEN, A dull roar which was heard for miles and a blast that shook the whole neighbourhood followed the explosion, which occurred in the main building ol the company. A largo stall was work ing at the various machines assembling spoiling ammunition when, without warning, the building was rent.

The explosion occurred near the capping machine tended by Miss Clifford, who was killed instantaneously. Other employees who were injured, although working near her, did not receive the full blast of air, which capsized the heavy machine, broke nearly every pane of glass in the building and forced part of one wall of the wood and iron building into the yard, Showers of glass in jagged splinters fell upon the workers, who were enveloped in dense yellow smoke as they staggered beneath the shock of the explosion. In spite of severe shock and many painful injuries, those who escaped comparatively lightly were quick to aid others less fortunate, and the wounded were helped through heaps of glass to the open air. Urgent telephone calls were made to the hospital, headquarters of the Bt. John Ambulance and the police, and an alarm of lire wns given when a niino. outbreak was detected. The fire engine was followed by four ambulances and a party of police reinforced by traffic officers assisted in the rescue work and in the direction of traffic. Two ambulances were sufficient to take to hospital the five victims, who were admitted. The drivers of the other two machines attended to employees who were suffering from minor cuts. The brigadesmen had no difficulty in control! ing the outbreak of lire. " EFFECTS OF EXPLOSION. So large a crowd had assembled within a few minutes that it was necessary to close the gates against all but those who bad urgent business inside. Men were sot to work to sweep away as much as possible of the glass that had been scattered over a wide area, and others endeavoured to restore some measure of order in the building and clear away the wreckage. Shortly after the injured had been removed many of the giris employed at the works commenced to leave. All bore traces of the ordeal through which they had passed. Broken windows in three sides of the main building were all that could be seen from the road, but the full effect of the explosion was evident when an inspection of the damaged structure was made.

The cause of the explosion has not been ascertained, but it was stated officially that percussion caps exploded either at Miss Clifford’s machine or else -immediately behind her. The heavy machine was capsized and a wooden support 12-in. thick dislodged. Scarcely a pane of glass remained intact, either in the skylights or in the windows. The blast forced each pane outward, and in some cases stripped the glass flush with the frame. A large section of the wall nearest to where the explosion occurred was torn away, and sheets of corrugated iron were scattered about the yard. The occupants of homes near the works were startled by the explosion, which rock-

ed houses and rattled windows. The upper storeys of Auckland Grammar School seemed to lurch, and the boys were cautioned by their masters not to give way to panic ,if a more severe shock followed tho first. One master said that the floor of his room swayed as though an earthquake had occurred. From his window ho could see a cloud of dirty yellow smoke rising from the works tu Normanby road.