The boilers have exploded, sending pieces of metal up into the air as if shot by cannon. It is William Crush's moment of triumph. But as I glance at him through the binoculars I see his grin disappear, displaced by a look of horror. As our friend Isaac Newton liked to say, what goes up must come down. Hot shards of metal have begun raining down on the crowd.
People scramble beneath the stands in terror.
Deane, the photographer, is clutching his face and screaming. I later learn his right eye was hit by a metal bolt. He'll lose the eye but will live to peddle his photos. Some others aren't so lucky. A man who'd climbed a tree to get a better view is killed instantly when a high-flying piece of metal splits his skull.