The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-09-21
Entire Town of Oppau, Ger
many, Is Wiped Out.
Giant Explosives Plant Near
FrankenthaI Blows Up.
SHOCK WAS LIKE EARTHQUAKE
Property Damage Estimated To
Be 15O,OOO,OOO Marks.
Gas Prevents Rescue Work
Three Trains Buried.

Berlin, Sept. 21.-The town of OPP
pau, in the Rhine Palatinate,N was
completely destroyed today in an ex-
plosion of the chemical works there,
according to advices reaching Berlin
tonight.
The management of the Badische
Chemical Works at Oppau estimated
at o'clock that 1000 persons had
been killed in the disaster, while 500
more were so severely injured they
probably would die.
Twelve hundred people are reported
to have been killed in the blast which
caused damage of 15O,OOO,O00 marks.
Oppau is a town near Ludwigshafen.
Ludwigshafen. on the Rhine and
Mannheim, which lies just across the
river, also were badly shaken by the
explosion.
Rescue Work Hindered.
Three trains filled with workmen
were completely buried under the de-
bris. Fires followed the explosion.
Dense clouds of smoke and chemical
fumes which poured from h e
wrecked watts hindered the work of
rescue. The rescuers had to wear gas
masks before they could venture close
to the scene of the blast.
It was hours after the explosion
before the workmen attempted to
penetrate to the heart of the explo-
sion, so great was the heat and so
dense were the rolling clouds of
smoke and deathly fumes. The dam
age was estimated at 15O,000,000
marks, normally $37,OOO,OOO.
Adayence, Sept. 21.-Eight hundred
persons are reported to have been
killed and many injured today by ex-
plosions in the Badische Anilinfabrik
works at Oppau, near Frankenthal,
in the Rhine Palatinate.
The plant, which was the scene of
the disaster, was that of the Badische
Anilinefabrick concern which makes
explosive nitrogen compounds.
Worst in German History.
The disaster appears to have been
one of the most terrific in the his
tory of industrial catastrophies. The
first explosion occurred when the
shifts were being changed at 7:45 am.
in a laboratory where 500 men were
working. All of these are reported to
have been killed.
This explosion was followed by
rapid succession of others which rem
dered assistance to the first victims
impossible. The conclusions were so
terrific that they were felt in this city
some 35 miles from the scene, while
at Mannheim, IS miles distant, almost
every window was shattered and sew
eral persons were killed and So others
were injured by debris.
Some persons were killed at Lud-
wigshafen, across the river from
Mannheim, many roofs were blown off
houses and all the windows in the
town were broken at Worms, while of
Oppau itself nothing remains but a
heap Of ruins.
The explosion had the force of an
earthquake, destroying houses, tear
ing down telephone and telegraph
wires and smashing everything in its
path.
The blast played many freakish
tricks. In some places, houses were
left standing in the midst of destruc-
tion with only windows broken and
tables upturned.
May Be Over 500 Dead.
London. Sept. 21.-Latest estimates
received here tonight by the Central
News put the number of dead in the
Ludwigshofen, Germany, explosion at
700 and said they might reach 500
The town of Oppau itself was en-
IlfelN destroyed Dy the explosions, Ine
advices state. The force of the shocks
were felt for a distance of nearly fif-
teen miles around. In Mannheim one
person was killed and about fifty in
jured.
The region in the Rhine palatinate,
where today's explosion occurred.
was developed during the war into
one of the most extensive and pro-
ductive of Germany's chemical mu-
milton supply districts.
Oppau itself is a comparatively
small town with only a few thousand
population, but nearby are Franken-
thai, considerably larger place, and
Ludwigshafen, which has a popula-
tion of some $4,000, and which. dur
ing the war, was accounted the larg-
est of the German chemical manu-
featuring plants for war purposes.
The chemical works there are still
on vast scale. 1t is about seven
miles southeast of Frankenthal and
directly across the Rhine from Mann
helm. During the war the region was
frequently bombarded by allied air
squadrons, Ludwigshafen being their
particular target