TERRIFIC EXPLOSION.

Thames Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 17679, 2 September 1929, Page 5

TERRIFIC EXPLOSION.

IN SITTING-ROOM GRATE.

TWO THAMES FOLK INJURED.

DETONATOR WRECKS ROOM.

VBy Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) . AUCKLAND, Sept. 2. A terrific explosion in the sittingroom grate at the residence of MiSamuel Agnew, 14, Selbourne Street, Grey Lynn, about eight o'clock last evening, wrecked the room and blew out the stove in the kitchen adjoining. There were five people in the room, including Mr Agnew and his son< Mr Stanley John Agnew, aged 26, both of whom were taken to the Auckland Hospital suffering from in-

~ ;>■ juries to the head through being * struck by flying furniture. It is believed that the explosion was caused by the firing of a detonator in the cool." -

Only slight injuries were sustained by the other three in the room, although Mr Basil Ratcliffe, who lives next door and was visiting the Agnews, was hurled across the room, through a doorway and to the far end of another room. The room was reduced to a state of chaos, and debris was also littered all over the kitchen from the stove. Residents a considerable distance away were startled by the report, which shook houses in the vicinity.The fire had been alight for about two hours before the explosion occurred, and during that time it had been fed with coal from a bucket near the /grate. Fuel, from the sack from which the bucket was filled had been used only once before, a fresh supply having been secured on the previous day.. ».';' • .

After the evening meal those in the house went to the sitting-room to spend the evening. The grate was In the centre of the wall dividing the room from the kitchen, and the brickwork for the fireplace also served for 1 the stove in the kitchen.

In front of the fire and about sft. from it Miss R. Agnew and Mr Stanley Agnew were seated at a table playing draughts. Mr Agnew, senr., was in a chair before the fire and slightly to one side of it, his son having his back to the grate. Mr Ratcliffe and another young man were also in the room. Mrs Agnew was in the kitchen, and Miss D. Agnew in the bath-room adjoining. No coal had been put on the fire

for some time. Suddenly there was a deafening report and the whole ' house shook as though an upheaval had occurred beneath it. Before anyone could move, the grate was hurled in every direction. The heavy cast Iron of. which it was made was shattered to small pieces and blown against the walls like so much shrapn&t'ir'l :>i'y ' -i;ii «**'«>■: -..-•..j;-.v..«.:■.-.,a.*' Mr Ratcliffe, who was standing near Mr Agnew's chair, was lifted off his feet and was-hurled against the bedroom doorway several feet away. The force of the explosion carried him through the doorway after he had struck the framework, and then threw hsm against a dressing table at the far end of the room about 12ft. 'rom the door. One of his shoes was ripped, but beyond a severe shaking and several bruises he received no injury. On rushing to the sitting-room Mrs Agnew and her daughter were met with an appalling scene. The tall mantelpiece of heavy wood had been lifted completely from its place and lay on the floor with Mr .Stanley Agnew lying near it.,, Mr Agnew's chair had been hurled away from the fireplace, and he was bleeding from a cut on the head. With difficulty the heavy mantelpiece was moved and the young .man was carried outside unconscious. Miss R. Agnew was slightly cut and was suffering from shock. The other young man escaped almost unhurt.

[The Agnews were well-known in Thames, having been resident here for many years. •Mr Stanley Agnew wag a compositor in the "Star" Office, and Miss Rita Agnew was a clerk in Messrs A. Court and Son's.] l