DISASTROUS EXPLOSION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18674, 2 October 1922, Page 5

DISASTROUS EXPLOSION

MANY VILLAGES DAMAGED. HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE. RESCUE WORK IK DARKNESS AND STORM. Preao Association—By Telegraph—Copyright ROME, September 29. Details from Spezia show that the Fort Falconara explosion was more disastrous than was at first expected. One hundred and forty-four bodies were recovered in Sant Erenzo alone. The number of dead in the other villages is still unknown. The explosion was due to a short circuit, and not to lightning. Fifteen hundred tons of explosives were affected. The devastation covered a radius of seven miles. The villages of Larici, Pugliala, Telaro, Puttello, and Muggiano were badly damaged. Some reports state that hundreds of people lost their lives, but a moderate estimate is 200 killed and 500 injured. Immediately after the flash great flames were seen to leap up, and the whole magazine seem to go up in one roar. The workers rushed in panic from the fort, but before they reached safety the explosion came. Many were killed by concussion and others by falling debris, especially women and children, who were buried when the houses collapsed. The ships in Spezia Harbour were tossed about by giant waves. Troops, civilians, and Fascist! volunteered for rescue work, but the darkness and a raging storm hampered them. The injured were soon arriving in large numbers at Spezia Hospital An army of rescuers has gone to Sant Erenzo to assist in clearing away the mins.—A. and N.Z. Cable. [Spezia is on the coast, about midway between Genoa and Leghorn’. It contains an arsenal and docks, and is noted for its maritime industries. The population is about 65,000.]