SPAIN GAS BLAST

(11 Jul 1978) DIGIBETA IN THE ARCHIVE GEN1033 notes: print location: san carlos de la rapita, spain title: spain gas blast (kine) serviced date: 07/11/78 no: lnc 94839 date shot: 07/11/78 length: 53ft seconds: 1:25 sound: mute date of arrival: film shows: aftermath of campsite liquid gas explosion that killed at least 150 people, injured survivors arriving at hospital. lead in: at least 150 people died in spain on tuesday (july 11th) when a road tanker carrying liquid gas swerved off a road, crashed into a campsite full of holidaymakers and exploded causing a ball of fire. red cross officials said hundreds more were injured, many of them so critically burned they could not be expected to live. the disaster happened at san carlos de la rapita, on spain’s mediterranean coast. feet r/secs 16 26 gv pan devastated area (4 shots) 32 51 ms burned bodies and buildings 40 1:04 ms injured arrive at hospital (monochrome) 53 1:25 ms injured inside hospital commentary: disaster struck just after lunchtime at the campsite crammed with some thousand mainly european tourists. the tanker was filled to capacity with forty three cubic metres of propylene gas, used to make plastic, when it swerved off the road and crashed into a wall at the campsite. its contents exploded in a ball of fire that roared through the campsite, setting off chain-reactions with bottled gas from the campers’s cookers. the blasts devastated an area more than half a mile wide, leaving charred bodies, burned-out cars and buildings in its wake. wintnesses compared the disaster to a napalm attack or an airliner crash. the victims were mainly french, german, english and dutch tourists. spanish officials said many of the burns were so estensive because many of the campers were sunbathing and wearing only swimsuits. many of the injured were in serious condition with burns covering from fifty to eighty per cent of their bodies. most were being rushed to a hospital in nearby valencia where doctors feared many would die from the extensive wounds. spanish soldiers delivered beds and other equipment to the hospital to convert its gymnasium into an emergency ward. disaster victims were being rushed to various hospitals by military helicopters, buses stripped of their seats and private cars, as well as by ambulances. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: