Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1903-03-11
SCENE OF AGONY
FIFTEEN LIVES LOST IN AN Ex.
plOSloN OF OIL TANKS
NEAR CLEAN, N. Y.
SCORES SERIOUSLY INJURED

View the Wreck and When the Oil
Caught Fire Many Were Unable to
Escape and Were Burned to Death.
Olean, N. Y, March 11.-Fifteea
lives were lost and fully twice tina,
number Of people were burned OF
bruised by an explosion Of oil follow
ing a wreck on the Erie railroad
north of this city. Owing to the fact
that some of the bodies were inciner-
ated in the fierce flames or blown into
the creek by the terrific explosion the
exact number of dead will probably
not be known for several days. The
number of injured, too, is uncertain,
as a large number of them were able
to reach their homes and received
treatment there.
The scenes following the explosion
will never be forgotten by those who
saw them. 1t was about 3 o'clock in
the evening when the train was
wrecked. An Erie freight train. west
bound, broke in two on the hill two
miles north of the city. At first the
forward part of the train, released of
all &ae weight of the cars behind. shot
forward with increased speed. Brakes
were applied and the front portion Of
the train was brought to a standstill
at the iron bridge across Olean creek.
The rear cars. gathering momentum
as they came down the hill, crashed
into the forward part of the train
Most of the cars in the train were tank
- y G1lnA with raGpnJ oil nv paonlinn
They weighed thousands of tons and
the impact was terrific. One of the
tank carS caught fire soon after thu
collision. The exact cause Of the fire
is not known, but it is supposed to
have started from a spark struck from
the grinding pieces Of iron in the
wreckage. In a few minutes another
car of gasoline caught fire and burst
in flames with a terrific report. Por.
tons of the iron domes of the r
We're hurled a distance of several hun.
dred feet. The flames shot high up in
the air, presenting a brilliant specta-
Gle In this early accident. so far as
can be learned, no one was injured. A
large crowd gathered quickly. Hun
dreds Of people from Olean, North
Olean and the surrounding countryside
gathered to watch the brilliant play
Of the flames.
Crowd Slowly Moves Forward.
For two hours the people stood
massed together and as the heat be
came less intense the crowd began to
edge a little closer to the wreckage
until. about IL o'clock, some venture
some boys approached to within a few
hundred feet of the burning debris.
Suddenly there was a terrific eXplO-
sion. Great masses of white flames
shot hundreds of fee into the air and
literally rolled down the banked sides
of the track into the gully where the
spectators were standing. Men and
boys fell before the wave of white
light TO rise no more. Huge pieces of
iron were hurled through the air, now
ing down the human beings by tho
score. Some managed to scramble to
their feet and get away. but others
lay still in death. The scene of agony
and horror at that moment was indie
scribable. A veritable rain of fire came
down upon the crowd. Men and boys.
with their clothing a mass of flames.
ran shrieking down the track, some
OF them falling to the ground uncon-
scious, while others grovelled in the
ditch or jumped into the creek in an
endeavor to put out the fire that was
consuming them. Many of those over
whelmed by the flames dropped where
they stood and never again moved.
AS soon as the telephone could be
reached all the doctors in the city
were summoned and the ambulances
were called out. Express wagons and
other vehicles were pressed into serv-
Ice. In che meantime those in the vi
entity OF the wreck who escaped injury
made valiant efforts to rescue the
wounded who were still lying within
reach OF the flames. Boys were burned
to death before their fathers eyes.
while the latter stood helpless to save
them. Men so badly wounded by the
flying pieces of iron that they could
not move, laid in the gully with the
flames rolling down upon them until
they persisted.
Work Of Rescue Begins.
1t was about / o'clock in the morn
Ing when Deputy Sheriff Osterhout
called for volunteers to remove the
dead and wounded. Three times as
many as were called for stepped for
ward and the gruesome work was be-
gun. In a short time fifteen bodies
a been recovered and laid beside the
track. Some Of them were SO badly
burned and distorted as to be scarcely
recognizable. Several bodies were
found In the ditch. The body of one
boy was seen too close to the flames
to be approached and in a short time
it was burned to ashes. It Is believed
Others We're also incinerated. When
the last body had been rescued the
stretcher bearers formed a procession
and started down the track toward the
ambulances. The crowds fell back as
they approached and opened a pas.
sageway for them. The only sound
that broke the stiffness while the head
OF the procession filed past was an oc.
casional sob or a s%huddering oh"
The dead arrived in the city about
3 o'clock and were taken to undertake.
ing establishments to be prepared for
burial.
A canvass Of the city and adjoining
villages will be made to ascertain the