TERRIBLE EXPLOSION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1973, 12 September 1889, Page 13

TERRIBLE EXPLOSION.

4> THREE HUNDRED PERSONS KILLED.

ONE THOUSAND WOUNDED. (Peb Peess Association.) Brussels, September 6. A cartridge factory at Antwerp exploded to-day. Two hundred workmen were killed, andone hundred wounded. Several petroleum factories adjoining caught fire and 100,000 barrels petroleum burst. September 7. The explosion at Carvilain's cartridge factory much resembled an earthquake. Its effect was even more disastrous than was at first reported, and it is now intimated that fully 300 persons were killed and 1000 wounded. The river Scheldt was covered with burning petroleum, but fortunately the wind wae blowing in a direction that left the shipping untouched. Two hundred factory girls are either killed or seriously injured. The general damage to the port and buildings at Antwerp, including the Bourse, is most extensive. It is feared that the steeple of the cathedral has been injured. Every windew in Antwerp was broken. All the crane machinery in connection with the port lies in ruins. A block of building s covering a space of two acres was destroyed by a fire which occurred after the petroleum explosion. The explosion of the cartridge factory at Antwerp was heard at Ghent, over 30 miles away, and the flames were visible in this city. • A panic ensued after the explosion, and many of the soldiers who were preserving order were suffocated. The firemen were powerless to control the conflagration which broke out, and five acres of buildings were destroyed. The cathedral windows were all smashed, and the spire endangered.