CADIZ DISASTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26545, 21 August 1947, Page 7

CADIZ DISASTER

CITY IN CONFUSION HEAVY DEATH-ROLL FEARED MOST FIRES UNDER CONTROL Rec. 10 p.m. MADRID, Aug. 20. So great is the damage and confusion caused by the Cadiz explosion that reliable casualty figures were still not available last night, says the London Times correspondent. The San Severiano and San Jose districts suffered the worst, hardly a house being left standing. The centre of the town is damaged to a lesser degree, but almost every building in Cadiz had at least doors wrenched off and windows blown in. Roads leading to Cadiz are congested with fugitives abandoning the area, and incoming traffic is aggravating the confusion as Cadiz is built on a peninsula and the town is supplied and fed by only one main road. It is impossible to guess the extent of the damage, but it is calculated that the shipyards, where 700 night shift men were working at the time of the explosion, have been totally destroyed. Their value is put at £2,000,000. It is feared that the death roll is 1000, with over 5000 injured., In response to urgent calls for help, the Gibraltar Fire Brigade rushed to Cadiz. Reports from San Fernando, about 10 miles from Cadiz, at the tip of the promontory on which Cadiz is situated, stated that a succession of explosions caused many fires, which are now being controlled. The worst hit area is the lower part of the promontory. Sappers and thousands of workmen are combing the ruins for victims believed to be entombed. The worst damage occurred in the Avenue Lopez Pinto and the San Severiano district. The blast blew the clothes from the bodies of many people. Jerez and Seville broadcast appeals for help, and a plane load of medical supplies has been flown from Madrid. Poor Quarter Wrecked The Spanish News Agency says that at least 100 torpedoes blew up, and the explosions througout • the night wrecked houses in the poor quarter of San Serveriano like a continuous earthquake. The Mayor of Cadiz, speaking by telephone, said: “ The worst wrecked districts are San Severiano, where 25,000 live, and San '■Jose. Whole families were buried in their homes. The damage in these areas and in the whole town is enormous” The fire began in the torpedo factory, not in the fertiliser plant as at first reported. Semi-official reports from Madrid say that the authorities are considering the advisability of partly evacuating Cadiz. It is also reported that the fire oettroyed two shipyards at Cadiz. The authorities have placed a censorship over the explosion area, and patrolling troops are keeping out newspaper correspondents. The militaVy confiscated films belonging to three Spanish photographers who contrived to reach the scenes of destruction. Spanish officials described the explosions as the “ biggest disaster of the century.” * The fire-fighters, after 17 hours, managed to get a number of fires under control. Hospitals Overflowing Rescue parties working in a broiling sun in San Serveriano and San Jose dug out dozens of bodies from the wreckage of houses, which were blown to matchwood. Hospitals throughout the area are overflowing, and there is insufficient medical help, in spite of the arrival of doctors from other towns in response to radio appeals. It is feared that most of the 120 children and nuns lie dead beneath the c< % :is of La Casa Cuna Orphanage, wnich was destroyed by the explosion. The blast caused the Madre de Dios Hospital to cave in, and it is feared 100 workers are entombed under the wreckage of a small factory near the scene of the blast.