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Tuesday 12 January 2016

EXPLOSION on North Terrace



 EXPLOSION on North Terrace

On the 28th of May 1942, The Barrier Miner reported an incident happening in a boarding house on North Terrace West.
 An explosion on the ground floor of the boarding house shook nearby residents due to its immense size. A piano was reduced to matchsticks, sending pieces flying through windows out on to the street, and splinters of wood embedded into the walls, floors and ceiling.

The explosion overturned armchairs, tables and two old heavy radio sets, spreading them across the room.

Although no-one was hurt in the explosion, the residents who were all sleeping upstairs, were shocked by the noise and panic set in. They ran into the street in their night clothes, panicked it was the end of the world.

Police investigated the incident the following morning, finding a small amount of Gelignite traces in the vicinity of the explosions initial point, the piano.
 It would seem a former resident had hidden some of the explosive gel away for safekeeping, and had forgotten about it. The gelignite, being an unstable compound, eventually exploded – luckily for the residents, it happened while they were all asleep, and not whilst gathered around the piano singing!

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