Evening star., 1959-12-03
DAM
Continued From First Page


coming into the house and we
were pressed against The CELL
ing before it started to go
down"
Bodies In Sea Of Mud
Many bodies were discovered
IN a sea Of mud on Verdun ave-
nue. in Frejus.
Fifteen persons. including two
children, clung to a Shuddering
old mill through the night and
were saved just before the
building collapsed.
The French government pro-
claimed the valley a disaster
area.
The French aircraft carrier
Lafayette, formerly the USS
Langley, served as a floating
hospital and flight deck for Is
rescue hencopters. The United
States Air Force offered toI
parachute aid If necessary.
Top French officials rushed to |
the scene to assess the need for
relief. The Navy prepared
1nitially to feed 10000 people. |
Army engineers loaded equip
ment on boats to get emergency
housing started. The French
radio appealed for money for
relief.
The navy prowled the shore
Of the Mediterranean, which
was Strewn for miles with
wreckage, seeking survivors. It
was feared many victims had
been washed out to sea.
The disaster disrupted rail /
and telephone traffic through
out southern France. The
coastal rail line was swept more
than a mile from it's roadbed.
One stunned Frejus Official
noted that the valley was one
Of the richest on the coast and
said: I'm afraid only the rocks
will be left"
The 22-foot thick dam was
erected for irrigation six years
ago.
There is nothing left" said
q rescue worker. The neigh
boring farms were carried away ,
with their occupants. The road .
which led to the dam through ,
the valley is no longer passable.
Everything has been swept !
away and what remains is i.
covered with mud"
A policeman was decapitated
by the blades of a rescue hell I
copter he was directing to a I
landing. t
OF Tourist Route
Although the valley is set in
the midst of the luxurious Riv- q
iera vcacationland, it has been \
mostly inhabited by farmers
and by fishermen living along r
the rocky coast. 1t was seldom 4
visited by tourists.
Terrified families were swept :
downstream, struggling to stay
together. Many had gone to
bed when the food struck. One
85-year-old woman floated sew
en- hours on her bedroom dress
er. An old man walking his .
dog was swept away in a Sec 6
ond. :
The hospital at Frejus - '
luckily on high ground-was !
jammed with injured and sur
vivors suffering from shock and !.
exposure. The morgue at the .
hospital was lined with bodies. y
Rescue workers in rubber
boats tried to reach isolated b
houses and bring the injured v
and sick to shelter.
Agonized cries for help were f
heard throughout the night. Ct
No help was Immediately 81
available for the villages up c,
stream. 1t took many hours to
get the first rescue teams there, =
and the weary rescuers found
many people missing and sur
vivors often wandering in dazed
silence.
Utility Service Out O.
FrejuS was without electri- I,
city, running water, gas or tele- = :.
phone service. Hastely strung - =.
telephone lines were laid to y
the police headquarters, which =
became a battlelike command y
post directing rescue work. =,
Frejus, about 4 miles below y y
the Malpasset Dam, suffered II
less than the isolated villages d
up the valley. 1t was feared no 4,
houses were left standing along - :.
the upper reaches of the river y y
The wall of water was q feet y y
high when it reached the town. - ~
Upstream tt may have lowered =,
40 feet in narrow stretches of {"
the valley. -,
The dam was holding back ., a.
nearly 10 billion gallons of % ~
water and was sorely strained y, .1
after the heavy rains. The ",
spillways were opened wider g. g.
only yesterday after a helicop- 81 ~
ter survey warned engineers of St
impending danger. But at GAS -
pm. the dam burst. O,
I'VE thought several trains m N
were roaring down the tracks h,
at once" said a shivering sur
vivor. si,
ut struck like a hammer til
blow at everything in its path ql
after the dam burst" said an he
other. tn
Bridges Carried Away -, ~
Bridges along the normally
peaceful river were carried
away. The naval base at st