AIRSHIP DISASTER

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLV, Issue 11927, 22 October 1919, Page 6

AIRSHIP DISASTER

Ten persons have been killed and 100 injured through a large dirigible, on a test flight, catching Are and falling 500 ft, and crashing through the glass roof 'of the Illinois Trust Saving Bank buildings, writes a correspondent from Chicago. The majority of the dead were employees of the bank, who were burned to death through the explosion of the tanks as they hit the floor of the rotunda, where nearly 200 book-keepers and clerks, all girls, were working. Panic prevailed as the fuselage of the balloon, with two ;heavy rotary engines and several Jpetrol tanks, crashed to the floor of the bank, scattering a Iwave of flaming petrol over the workers for a radius of 50ft. Men and girls, with their clothing in flames, fought their way through the only two exits of which the wire cages were working. The rotunda instantly became a mass of flaming wreckage, and the intense heat made rescue work extremely difficult It was 30 minutes before the bodies beneath the airship could be removed, and they were burned beyond recognition.

Ambulances from all the hospitals in the city rushed to the scene and helped the injured, while the police threw a round the bank, which is situated in the centre of the city. Besides the dead many people were injured and cut by flying glass as a result of the explosion, and others were badly burned. The central portion of the bank was wrecked as a result ©f the explosion and fire. It was after banking hours when the accident occurred, and therefore none of the public was inside the building. The airship had been flying over the city for several hours advertising a pleasure resort. Suddenly it burst into flames, buckled up, and plunged downward. The members of the crew and several passengers, all of whom were strapped in parachutes, jumped. Several lauded safely, but the silk parachutes of others were burned and the wearers were dashed to pieces.