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Show GAS TANK EXPLOSION KILLS 1 4- Victims of New Jersey Blast Taken From Unemployed Ranks; Five Badly Hurt; Bodies Horribly Mangled. CAMDEN, N. J., March 9 (U.R) A number of workmen taken from unemployed ranks to fill temporary jobs,' were killed today when fire caused explosion of powerful gases at the Public Service corporation cor-poration here. The announcement said 14 men had -been killed and five others seriously injured. None of , the bodies recovered could be identified. They were charred and torn by the terrific explosion. How many of the other workmen managed to escape before the blast occurred could not be learned immediately. im-mediately. Some injured were taken tak-en to nearby hospitals. The expsion occurred in a large metal tank perched on girders gird-ers 15 feet in the air. . The tank was used in the gas plant and! periodically per-iodically it was cleaned of the black substance forming after manufacture of illuminating gas. Gases included sulphuric fumes. The plant is located in the south end of Camden, near the Delaware river. It is a .congested ' district where there are many tenements. Residents were aroused by the blast and; the accompanying sheet of flames and hurried to the scene. Benjamin Plevinsky, a grocer, said he heard the blast, saw the flames and called fire department aid. The first firemen to arrive donned gas masks and tried to climb the lacder which scaled the side of the tank. The flames were so bitter, however, how-ever, they had to abandon this system and a block and fall apparatus ap-paratus was erected which permitted permit-ted firemen to enter the tank and remove bodies of the dead and injured,. |