MANY OBSERVERS OF THE GAS EXPLOSION





Henderson Times, Mar. 25, 1937

F. B. Doles, oil field worker, was one of the many witnesses of the crumbling of London high school building last Thurs. afternoon, following the gas explosion in its basement. He said there was a brief flame that showed above the building as the roof rose in the air & sank down with the topling walls in ruins.

Many corpses of children were seen on the outside of the wrecked building, some having been blown through the doors & windows. In fact some of the few surviving children said they were literally blown through the doors or windows.

The gathering up of the dead on the outside of the ruins was followed at once by the taking of corpses from the wrecked schoolhouse. Some parents were quickly at the scene, searching for their dead children, while ambulances from all towns nearby took the injured to homes & hospitals.

The moans of the bereaved never ceased as the hours of search went by and the crowd grew into thousands & greatly impeded the relief work.