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Home Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection 16 believed killed by blast in Sylmar water district tunnel

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16 believed killed by blast in Sylmar water district tunnel

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Order Number	00095550
Title	16 believed killed by blast in Sylmar water district tunnel
Photographer	Messinger, Joe.
Collection ID	Herald Examiner Collection
Location/Accession	HE box 9475
Date	1971
Physical Description	1 photographic print :b&w ;24 x 20 cm. on sheet 26 x 21 cm.
Historical Data	A pocket of natural gas exploded early Thursday in the midst of a crew of workers drilling a Metropolitan Water District tunnel 250 feet beneath Sylmar. The explosion turned the 21-foot-high tunnel into an inferno of blazing gases. Sixteen men were believed killed in the blast or in the flames and suffocating smoke that followed, and it was almost 10 hours before the first bodies could be removed. By late Thursday night seven bodies had been removed, and by Friday morning, five other bodies were taken out but the bodies of four other victims remained undiscovered. The explosion was the second in two days at the Metropolitan Water District's San Fernando Tunnel. Both explosions were blamed on methane, the natural gas found in oil fields. Methane is natural gas, the same as that used in gas ranges. In its normal state it is colorless and odorless.
Description	Photograph shows an unidentified man, most likely one of the Metropolitan Water District tunnel workers, who appears to be covered in soot as he stands next to a tall bin. Photograph dated June 24, 1971.
Subject	Explosions--California--Los Angeles. Methane--California--Los Angeles. Water tunnels--California--Los Angeles. Men--California--Los Angeles. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Calif.). Sylmar (Los Angeles, Calif.). Los Angeles Herald-Examiner photographs. Herald-Examiner Collection photographs. Portrait photographs
Coverage	1971; 1972; 1973; 1974; 1975; 1976; 1977; 1978; 1979; 1980
Format	Photographic prints
Reproduction Information	Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
Sub-Collection Name	Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection