NARKUNDA FIRE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 168, 19 July 1939, Page 7

NARKUNDA FIRE

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION i BELIEVED CAUSE FIFTEEN IN HOSPITAL. R COLOMBO. July 17. i r It is revealed that the bellboy, reported dead in the Narkunda, is i [among those injured and in hospital, i i He is progressing favourably. | It is stated that spontaneous com- L bust ion is the most likely cause of the j explosion. It is believed that some-1 thing in the cargo fermented, gas which ignited. Smoke was seen 90 minutes before the explosion, entirely disposing of the bomb theory. One of th? victims, Quartermaster |R. Searle, was to have married a | stewardess, Miss Meace, u;non his re--1 turn to England. d| The Narkunda is sailing for Australia to-night. Fifteen of the crew s are detained in hospital, five being in a ertieal condition. The Colombo correspondent of The t Times says that passengers testify to _ the crew’s calmness during the inci- r T dent. Their devotion to duty allayed v fears of many. t Mailbags were soaked. 70 being e damaged. ,1 Eight of those injured wore dis- £ *• charged from hospital. c ,f | Miss Meace. near (he hold at the t rime of the explosion, was knocked a | down and injured. r