1937 New London School explosion

Odourless natural gas leaked into the basement of the school at New London, in Rusk County, Texas, and ignited with minutes left in the school day and more than 500 students and teachers in the building, levelling most of it. Earlier in 1937 the school board had cancelled its natural gas contract and had plumbers tap into a residue gas line belonging to the Parade Gasoline Company to save money. Estimates of the dead differ, running from 296 to 319, and the account in the contemporary press record notes the figure may be higher because many residents were transient oilfield workers who took their children's bodies home for burial.

Date
1937-03-18
Deaths (Wikipedia list, low end where it gives a range)
298
What the pin marks
The site of the explosion, as the cited page positions it.
Where the position is published
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London_School_explosion

Category: Disasters & Incidents

Tags: natural gas, school, gas leak, texas

Coordinates: 32.23917, -94.94139

Part of Industrial and accidental explosions that killed 200 or more people since 1900

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