The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-10
WERE WATCHING FLAMES
Tank Cars COllided and Ex-
 plOSi0n Followed.
Twenty Dead Bodies Counted After { Peculiar Accident at Clean, N. Y.-Bodies Borne to
 the Hospitals.


 score of persons were killed and a large number were injured by an explosion of oil in the tank cars of freight train on the Erie Railroad. The train broke in two east of Clean and the two sections of the train came together with a crash. One of the oil tanks was demolished. Fire broke out and the sky was lighted up for miles. A large crowd went from Clean to see the fire
 The large crowd was near the flames when an explosion occurred in one of the tanks. Burning oil was hurled over the crowd and the heat enmeshed many victims. The exact number Is unknown because the intense heat renders 1t im- possible to search for the bodies which are burning.
 Estimate of Fatalities.
 One estimate is fifteen dead and thirty injured. The train was on the Erie road. It transpires that the collision was be- tween two sections of the same train which broke in two while leaving the Clean yards.
 The flames communicated quickly with the other tank cars and a second and a third explosion followed in rapid success sion. Sheets of flame shot out in all directions. Scores of persons were caught within the zone of the fire and enveloped in flames. Men and boys ran screaming down the tracks with their clothing on fire. Others fell where they stood, overcome by the heat Just how many were killed is not known as some of the bodies are ineinerateds
 Statement of Witness.
 Sydney Fish. who returned from the fire at midnight, said:
 q went to see the fire and when was within quarter of mile of the wrecked train there was a terrific explosion. Flames shot outwards and upwards for a great distance saw several persons start to run. Some dropped on the rail- way tracks and never moved. Others who had been standing close to the wreckage were hurled through the air for hundreds of feet Half dozen boys ran down the track with their clothing on fire. could hear the screams dis tinctly. They ran some distance down the track and then threw themselves to the ground. groveling in the ditches in their frantic effort to extinguish the flames.
 T do not know how many were killed, but I counted twenty bodies before I came away
 Vehicles Pressed Into Service.
 Word was sent at once to the Olean police by telephone. Every physician in Clean was summoned. Grocery wagons and carriages of all kinds were pressed into service and everything possible was done to bring the injured without delay to the hospitals for treatment.
 At midnight four injured boys arrived at the hospital. Great patches of flesh were burned and hung in shreds from their bodies.
 The police are making a canvass of Olean to ascertain how many persons are missing.
 Hundreds of persons filled the streets after the explosion and many stood for hours at the hospital door trying to rec ognise the body or injured person of some friend or relative Many pathetic scenes occurred when various persons saw burned relatives carried into the build ing. The police had difficulty in keep ing frantic relatives from rushing into the operating rooms.
 The latest estimates of the victims of the Clean explosion make 22 dead and 45 wounded.