East St. Louis, IL Tank Car Explosion, Jan 1972

18 INJURED IN RAILROAD YARD BLAST.

East St. Louis, Ill. (AP) -- A railroad tank car containing 30,000 gallons of liquid petroleum gas exploded Saturday shattering windows 8 miles away and sending more than 150 persons to hospitals.
No fatalities were reported and only 18 of those injured, most of whom were cut by flying glass, were admitted to hospitals.
City Fire Commissioner Elmo Bush said a quick survey showed the dawn blast in the ALton & Southern Railway Co. yard near downtown, damaged at least 500 residential and business properties here, in most cases shattering windows.
A spokesman for the rail yard said freight cars and four tank cars containing the liquid gas were being pushed over a hump to provide momentum as they were rolled onto a side track during a sorting process.
Retarders on one of the tank cars failed to slow it down he said, and the tank car crashed into a freight car and ruptured.
The damaged tank car burst into flames following the explosion, felt as far away as Edwardsville to the north and Troy to the northeast, both 20 miles from the scene.

Cedar Rapids Gazette Iowa 1972-01-23
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!