DYNAMITE EXPLOSION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23970, 21 May 1941, Page 12

DYNAMITE EXPLOSION

FIVE MEN KILLED TRAGEDY AT A FACTORY JOHANNESBURG, March '2O Five men were killed in an explosion at the Modderfontein Dynamite Factory. The blast was heard by householders in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg within a radius ot live or six miles. An official statement issued by African Explosives and Industries, Limited, is as follows: "An explosion occurred at 6.45 a.m., involving the destruction of a mixing house. Damage to surrounding buildings was not severe. The company regrets to report that one European, Mr. G. J. C. Knox, aged 34, and four natives were killed. Mr. Knox leaves a widow and three children. An official inquiry into the cause ot. the accident will be made by the chiet inspector ol explosives." Windows and doors rattled, vases toppled over and pictures were swung out of position in some houses in | Sydenham. Highlands North and Orange Grove when the blast caused a sharp "shudder" similar to that of I a brief bpt severe earth tremor. Many j people were awakened by the noise, I and those who could sec Modderfontein jin the distance noticed a cloud of i brownish smoke spurt upward and, j then mushroom out over the property, i I Residents in the vicinity of the fac- j torv heard finely-crushed debris strik-j I ing" their roofs and their bouses rocked j ! for a split second.