TERRIFIC EXPLOSION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16538, 23 September 1921, Page 5

TERRIFIC EXPLOSION.

Id ANILINE WORKS. THOUSAND WORKERS KILLED. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. B v Telegraph—Prase Association— Copyright. LONDON, September 21. , A telegram from Mayence (Main*), Germany, reports that- an explosion occurred in aniline works at Opau and caused a thousand deaths. Several thousand persons were also injured. Of 800 workers within the building not one was found alive. PANIC-STRICKEN INHABITANTS: PARIS, September 21. The explosion occurred at 7.30 in the morning. All telephones and telegraphs in the district were destroyed. There was much damage and apparently some loss of life in Ludwigshafen, on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite Mannheim. Though details am most difficult to get. reports suggest that the village of I Oppau was completely destroyed. I Inhabitants who are not killed or des- | perately injured are panic-striken with | the horror of the disaster, and fear a further explosion. Windows and doors were smashed ovor a. wide area.. A FEARFUL EXPLOSION. LONDON, September 21. The 44 Daily Chronicle’s ” Mannheim correspondent states:—Just after work commenced at the Oppau factory a fearful explosion occurred in the nitrogen department, believed to be due to the explosion of the gas compressorThe population in the district, believing that the noise was due to an earthquake, poured into the streets in panic. Dense clouds of smoke were observed over the spot where the works were. It is impossible to approach. There are nil sorts of reports regard- , ing the death-roll, the general idea be- j ing that at least a thousand were killed, I but the authorities bog the people not to accept the estimate until the debris j is thoroughly examined. WIDE AREA SHAKEN. LONDON, September 22. j J A couple of detonations in the older part of tho Badische aniline works heralded a disaster unprecedented in J the history of modern science. Other , ! explosions followed, of which the hrs* ! resulted in Number oG laboratory being blown infco the air. . 1 i Every house within a radius or eight ' miles was shaken as though by a violent : earthquake.. People fled into the streets, j | many even jumping through the win- | down. For hours rescue was impossible, j Then parties approached the Badische 1 works to give assistance to the wound- ‘ j ed, who lay alongside the dead, many 1 being terribly mangled. Clouds of ' , green smoke enveloped the whole ruins. ! j Even after twelve hours, confusion I was so great- that it was impossible to I get exact information. All accounts | j agree that- hundreds are dead, many be- ! I ing killed at a considerable distance j from the main disaster. | There were heartrending scenes as j women and children sought their husbands and fathers. Mangled forms were taken out of buildings and laic] on I the roadsides for identification, or, if still alive, to await omnibuses and moj tor-cars, which were hurried out from Ludwigshafen and Mannheim a£ far as j the broken roads would allow, i The hospitals in Ludwigshafeu, Worms j and Mannheim were quickly fined with J maimed workers and others. Fortunately it was too early for | many people to be about the neighbourI ing towns, otherwise many more would have been injured or killed by falling ! debris* As it was many children were thrown down through air pressure and | badly hurt. I At Ludwigshafen the entire roofs of J many houses were carried away. All j windows were broken in Worms, which j is thirteen miles away. The roads around Oppau are deep in J glass and other debris. One story says that three workers’ j j trains were submerged in falling wreckj SIA NY THOUSANDS INJURED. ! PARIS. September 21. The night shift had just been relieved by day workers when the explosions occurred. So violent were these that all windows were broken in Mannheim and as rar away as Worms. Large pieces of metal and other material rained down on Mannheim, killing on© and injuring fifty-five, many seriously. Oppau was totally wrecked. There are now over a thousand dead, and thousands of others are injured. The French Commissioner in the Rhine district is prganising relief work. SEVERE EXPLOSION. LONDON, September 22. The “ Daily Telegraph’s '* Berlin correspondent states that the explosions occurred at the Badische soda factories, where nitrogen compounds were manufactured for agricultural purposes. Terrific detonations in rapid succession startled the district, which is thickly populated. The earth shook violently. Houses were unroofed, and articles

such as typewriters were hurled into tho air. Masses of metal weighing IGO kilogrammes were thrown a hundred yards. The detonations were felt at Heidelberg, and windows were broken at Frankfort, thirty-seven miles distant, where electric trains were interrupted. Firemen and police in the district worked in gas masks, assisting the French troops in rescue work, but tho fires which were raging prevented approach to the main buildings. THE WORKS. PARIS, September 21. Tli© aniline works at Oppau were situated within the French zone of occupation. They were under the control of the Badische Aniline and Potash Company, which is connected with the Aniline Consortium, with a capital of 2,000.000.000 marks. During the war it was the principal centre for the manufacture of asphyxiating gas. THEORY OF DISASTER. LONDON, September 22. j The most likely explanation of the \ disaster is given by an expert of Bruri- 1 nt?r, Mond and Co., who suggests that | leakage of hydrogen is the probable I cause. The Oppau company had been ; making an immense quantity of synthe- ; tic ammonia, composed of nitrogen I and hydrogen. During the manufac- ■ turing process free hydrogen is formed, j and if it escapes and mixes with the j air a highly explosive gas is formed.