Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1921-09-22
1900 LOSE LIVES,
1000 INJURED, IN
OPPAU EXPLOSION
Town Is Wrecked by Ter
rifle Blast in Great
Chemical Works.
NITROUS SULPHATE
CAUSE OF DISASTER
Ncighboring Districts Suffer
Heavy Losses and Have
Many Injured.
RELIEF WORK. is HAMpEnEp
Hole I'm Ground 45 Yards Dcep md
i3O Yards Wide nt Scene
OF Disaster.
NITROUS SULPHATE
CAUSE OF DISASTER
RELIEF WORK is HAMMERED
Hole I'm Ground 4j Yards Dcc, nm,
l3O Yards Wide at Scene
OF Disaster.
[By Associatedprnss ]

~
MAYENCE. GERMANY, Sent. o1
y great explosion TO-DAY at ,bs
chemical products plant of m.
l'adische Aniiinfabrik Company, at
oppau, on the Rhine, wrecked the
town aud spread death and destruc-
ton on every hand. The number OF
Killed is variously estimated at from
LOCO to l.500, and the injured clos.
TO 1000. One report says that a.OOO
men were on the spot at the moment
OF the explosion, and it is believed
about half OF these were killed.
The town of Oppau is n sccnc OF
des"lation. more than third of the
houses having heen completely de-
stroyed. while the roofs of the others
were swept OF as if by whirlwind.
Here also many were killed or in
jured
Excess Pressure Cause OF DISASTER.
The explosion is attributed by some
TO excess pressure In two adjoining
Sasometers, the whole of this part
or the works being literally pulvcr-
ized. Where the gasometcrs stood
is now II funnel shaped hole 13p
yards wide aud is yards deep, while
twisted girders and debris OF every
description lie scattered about. For
distance of several hundred yards
not Il wall is left standing
The directorate of the company Is
quoted as saying that tho exploslon
occurred in storehouse containing
1000 tons of nitrous suiphate, which
had previously been examined nnd
was believed TO be free from danger
OF explosion.
Three Trains Under Wreckasc.
All the workmen's dwellings, in tho
vicinity were razed. At Mannheim.
on the opposite side OF the river,
thirty-tivc persons were seriously in
lured and zoo or more slightly in
iurcd. l.udwigschafcn reports say
that three workmen's trains wcro
buried under the wrcckagc and many
children ON their way To school in
that town were injured.
licart-rendinS scenes were wit
messed on all sides. At the little
cemetery on the outskirts OF Oppau
there are already more than 200
bodies laid out on the grass. Num-
erous tomb tstones were lifted and
hurled in various directions by th,,
force of the explosion. There was
not door or window left intact for
a radius OF three miles.
French Aid In Relief.
French medical units are aiding in
the rescue work. Assistance also
has been rushed from all the neigh
boring towns and all public and pri-
N1ic motor oars anu vehicles were
roquisitioncd. The roads leading to
Oppau were soon crowded with pco-
pie making their way TO the scene
OF the disaster.
The disaster appears to have been
one OF the most terrible in the his
tory of industrial catastrophes. The
first explosion occurred when the
shifts were being changed at 7:45
q. NJ.
rapid succession OF others, which
rendered assistance to the first vic
tins impossible.
Conclusion Terrific.
The concussions were so terrific that
they were felt in this city. some thir-
ty-nvc miles from the scene, while
at Manhcm. thirteen miles distant.
almost every window was shattered
and several Persons were killed and
thirty six others injured by debris.
Some persons were killed at Lud-
wiSshafen, across the river from Man
helm, many roofs were clown on
houses and all Ahe windows in the
town were broken ut Worms, while OF
Oppau itself nothing remains but Il
heap OF ruins.
The shock was felt as far as Frank
fort. more than forty miles away.
and many windows were broken
there.
ha W
thick smoke, which together with the
cutting Of telegraph and telephone
communication with nei h b o | n e
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