Silvertown explosion
1917 industrial accident in north-east London
About
The Silvertown explosion occurred in Silvertown in West Ham, Essex (now part of the London Borough of Newham) on Friday, 19 January 1917 at 6:52 p.m. The blast occurred at a munitions factory that was manufacturing explosives for Britain's First World War military effort. Approximately 50 tonnes of trinitrotoluene (TNT) exploded, killing 73 people and injuring 400 more, as well as causing substantial damage in the local area. This was not the first, last, largest, or the most deadly explosion at a munitions facility in Britain during the war; an explosion at Faversham involving 200 long tons (200 tonnes) of TNT killed 105 in 1916, and the National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell, exploded in 1918, killing 137.
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