HEAVY EXPLOSIONS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 23, 27 January 1934, Page 10

HEAVY EXPLOSIONS

SENSATION IN AUCKLAND MANY WINDOWS BROKEN UNEXPLAINED OCCURRENCE. [ Per Press Association. ] AUCKLAND, Jan. 26. Two explosions with the noise of a naval salvo, followed by the appearance of darting flames and heavy clouds of smoke, occurred at 3 o’clock this morning in an abandoned sewer in Albert Street. They shattered 25 windows in seven buildings, and, had the workmen engaged on drainage operations been on duty in the street at the time, loss of life must have resulted. The precise cause of the explosion is puzzling the experts. A tentative theory is that gas of some kind accumulated in thessererw r er and somehow was ignited. A resident in the locality says that he noticed a smell at 10 o’clock last night, which he thought was sewer odour and after the explosion the smell reminded him of carbon gas. A subsequent examination of the gas main which passes over the sewer revealed no leakage, and it is reported also that the electric power cables in the vicinity are intact. Although the hour was early a surprisingly large crowd of sightseers assembled after the explosion. The sewer, which is 14ft. below the surface of the street, was abandoned 15 years ago. City Council workmen have been driving a tunnel shaft in connection with stormwater drainage. The view was expressed this morning that had the shaft not been driven and had the explosion occurred the whole roadway would have been blown ,ip - ______