GAS EXPLOSION

Southland Times, Issue 21650, 11 March 1932, Page 7

GAS EXPLOSION

14 WORKMEN KILLED

RESIDENCES SHAKEN BY UPHEAVAL NEW JERSEY DISASTER (United Preas Assn.—By Tolograph—Copyright.) Boston, March 9. An official of the Public Service Electric and Gas Company at Camden (New Jersey) said that 14 workmen had been killed by an explosion in the purifying box at the company’s plant to-day. Residences for blocks were shaken, although the scene of the explosion is a mile from the central city area. The blast was made harrowing by the cries of relatives of the doomed men. The explosion was caused by a spark, either the result of a blow on the metal inner shell of the tank or of a lighted match that ignited the gas collected within. A tremendous roar announced the accident, while practically all the workmen, many of whom were earning their first pay in weeks, were trapped below the fierce torch-like flame which followed, but which was speedily extinguished by firemen.

The tank is a square steel structure 20ft x 20ft and 15ft deep and is raised from the ground on steel girders 15ft in height. The metal interior was coated with a mixture of charcoal, sawdust and sulphuric and other acids used in the purifying of gas. In Ihe sawdust a composition gas collects anil several times a year it is necessary to clean it.