DAMAGE BY BURST PIPE

Taranaki Daily News, 17 December 1930, Page 7

DAMAGE BY BURST PIPE

SERIOUS DAMAGE IN LONDON. INTERRUPTION OF SERVICES. British Wireless., , . Rugby, Dec. 15. A severe dislocation of traffic, both in the streets and in the underground railways, and serious damage to business property, besides an interruption to the telephone and electric light services in the immediate district, was caused by the bursting of a 24 inch water main at the corner < f Oxford Street and- Tottenham Court Road this morning just .as city workers were arriving from the suburbs. ■ , ' ■ * The flood forced up the wooden,paving blocks, spreading them in all directions and water poured into the basements of buildings and down the elevators to the tube station platforms where the water was soon some feet deep; The extent of the damage cannot yet he estimated, but it is feared that the foundations of the roadway and the superstructure of the underground station are affected. The shops in the whole area anticipate heavy losses in Christmas trade. The ghs mains explosion two years ago, when many streets were closed for months, was only a hundred yards from the scene of to-day’s accident. l lt is expected that the underground service will be normal to-morrow. '<