SCENE OF DEVASTATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26043, 5 January 1946, Page 5

SCENE OF DEVASTATION

AMMUNITION EXPLOSION CAUSE STILL A MYSTERY LONDON, Jan. 3. Smashed trucks and bent and blackened debris surround two great craters in Savernake Forest left by the explosion. The War Office announced that the total fatal casualties were seven, one of whom died in hospital. Six others were injured. The fire has been put out. Six bodies have been recovered. The area is picketed. Civilians who were evacuated from their homes have been permitted to return. The railway and main road are now open again. A Press Association reporter who was allowed to visit the siding to-day saw a terrible scene of devastation. For nearly a quarter of a mile nothing remained of trains, lines, or ammunition, but scraps of shapeless metal. Of at least 12 trucks, each of which was loaded with 10 tons of explosives, the only recognisable object left was one wheel lying half-buried at the bottom of a crater. Cartridges, shells, and mines which were thrown from other trucks were scattered over a wide area. It is officially stated that the cause of the disaster is still a mystery. The danger from further explosions is receding as other wagons laden with explosives are moved from the scene. All available firemen from Marlborough and other towns and villages near Cadley were rushed to the scene this morning to extinguish the flames. The firemen fought the flames while shells were still exploding.