The Washington herald., 1921-09-22
Women and Children Are
Crushed to Death as
Houses Fall.
HOLES IN GROUND
MARK EXPLOSION
Troops Prevent Bereaved
From Entering the
Danger Zone.

BERLIN. Sept. 21.-There are two
vast holes in the ground in the
manufacturing district Of Ludwig
shsfen. fringed with a great circle
OF burning wreckage. which con-
ceals the bodies of hundreds killed
today in the worst explosion that
ever blighted a city.
How many workmen were killed
IN the oppau nitrogen plant of the
Badische Aniline Soda Works it is
impossible at this momtnt TO say.
but dispatches from the stricken
city Of Ludwigshafen and from
Mannheim, another chemical manu-
featuring center Just across the
Rhine. state that there were hun
dreds in the plant at the time OF the
disaster. none of whom possibly
could have escaped
Leaves Mass of wreekase.
All the Suildings on the large
company reservation were utterly
razed by the shock, and :wo simply
disappeared, leaving ho'es scooped
out OF the earth and nasses of
wreckage to indicate where they
had been.
But this was not the full sxtent
OF the disaster. In the city at large,
where the usual ecccntricities of a
great explosion were manifest. chill
dren were crushed to death in their
beds as houses caved in. and men
ard womer were struck down on the
CT htrNfad IN ahafr
places OF employment
Dared from Danger Zone.
The city of Ludwigshafen was a
city mad with anguish and shock
tonight. controlled only by the stern
and impassive French garrison
guards who barred everyone but
the firehshters and relief workers
from the danger zone. Hysterical
women and children fiocked around
the guards at their posts and be-
seeched permission to pass and
search the ruins for their loved ones.
But IL was not only TO preserve
order that the garrison was keep
ing back the >bereaved natives.
There was real danger in the ruins,
a danger recognized by the firemen
who dared not go among the ruins
without their gas masks. such as
they wore in the line during the
war.
Fire Follows Explosion.
Fire broke out in the debris i'm
mediately after the explosion and
continued to burn long after night
fall. Scores OF people are home
less. their dwellings demolished in
that awful instant meagerly de-
scribed in the dispatches which
correspondents have been able 70
send through to Berlin by various
resourceful maneuvers. Some of
these dwellings were a long way
from the plant site, yet the explo-
sion buckled the walls and sent
the roofs crashing down on the
occupants without even the warn
ing OF cracking timbers. II was
an instantaneous occurrence, ac-
cording to advices here.
The Badische Aniline Soda Com
pany issued a statement this even
ing. explaining that the disaster
was caused by the explosion OF a
4.oOo-ton container OF amonium
sulphate and saltpetre. What
caused the explosion the firm was
unable to say, however. and the
explanation probably will never be
known.
Dead Lie I'm Streets.
Estimates of the number OF dead
still range from 800 to 1,00e.
Everywhere in oppau there are
masses of ruins. and dispatches de-
scribe the sight OF groups OF dead
and wounded lying in the streets.
The hospitals OF Ludwigshafen
and Mannheim are overcrowded
with casualties. Surgeons and
nurses from other cities in a wide
radius have gone into the stricken
town to volunteer their services.
and relief organizations are start
ing their work
One estimate received here this
evening places the dead at about
ZOO.
The Oppau works was devoted to
the manufacture OF artificial nit
rogen. ...-. ..