EXPLOSION IN HAMBURG.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19953, 23 May 1928, Page 11

EXPLOSION IN HAMBURG.

POISON GAS RELEASED, SPREAD OF DEADLY FUMES. SEVEN PERSONS KILLED. MANY OTHERS SUFFERING. GALLANT RESCUE EFFORTS. Australian Press Association—United Service (Received May 22, 5.5 p.m.) HAMBURG-, May 21. A tank of phosgene gas exploded in a street in Hahiburg last evening. A great; cloud of the gas settled over the neighbouring streets, which were hurriedly evacuated and 30,000 people were driven from their homes. Seven persons were killed by the deadly fumes and 100 are iti hospital. All the latter are in danger of death. Soldiers were mobilised to- assist' firemen in attempting to disperse the cloud of gas with ammonia. All the available gas masks were commandeered. Further aid was sent by special train from Berlin. The explosion was not loud, nor was it destructive. It was immediately fol lowed by a great volume of death-dealing fumes which spread over that part of the city. The rescuers struggled heroically to rescue the sufferers, some of whom collapsed and died. When the fate of a great portion of the city was in the balance the situation was saved by a merciful change in the direction of the wind. It veered in such a manner as to blow the gas toward an isolated neighbourhood. A heavy fall of rain also helped to disperse <he fumes, but the danger was not considered past until this morning. Had the wind changed to the opposite direction, toward the congested parts of the city, worse havoc must have been caused by the cloud of gas. It is said that there was sufficient gas to have annihilated an army. The gas tank which exploded belonged to a chemical firm which was responsible for the manufacture of the poison-gas during the war, but which is at present in liquidation. The tank was awaiting removal abroad. The name of the gas in the war was " Yellow Cross." It is invisible and being heavier than air lingers close to the ground and is difficult to disperse. When it is weak it is hardly noticeable. When the gas is inhaled there are no immediate consequences, but the person who has inhaled it' is liable suddenly to become ill and to die some days afterwards. MJIXTUBE PEOHIBITED. VERSAILLES TREATY CLAUSE. CONSIDERABLE DISCUSSION. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. HAMBURG. May 21. In connection with the explosion of phosgene there is considerable discussion as to why a German firm was in possession of the gas, which is forbidden in Germany under the Treaty of Versailles. Professor Haber, the most competent authority on poison-gas, says this gas is only manufactured in Germany in small quantities for dye purposes. It is one of the most dangerous types. Half a gramme in one cubic foot of air is sufficient to kill. The professor says he cannot understand where this gas came from, as it is stored by a limited number of firms after the greatest precautions have been taken. The firm concerned alleges that the tank contained old war material. Part was to have been destroyed and part was to have been exported to the United States. Phosgene is the old name of carbon oxychloride. The first effective use of gas in the war was in April, 1915, when the Germans used chlorine against the French. From December they mixed phosgene with the chlorine, which added greatly to its poisoning effectiveness. The French first used gas shells, as opposed to the attacks by gas clouds, and filled shells with a highly toxic gas, such as phosgene, in July, 1915. The Germans later used shells of the same type, and made effective attacks with them at Verdun and in the Somme fighting. The Allies later used the Livens Projector at Arras in March, 1917, which was a sort of trench mortar firing a bomb weighing 601b., containing 301b. of phosgene. Phosgene, Coclz, is an acute lung-irritant., and acts rapidly on the eyes and the respiratory organs. Later gases, such as mustard gas (dichlorethyl sulphide), were far less easily detected, and remained for a long time in the soil, and their effects began some hours after exposure.