Freak dynamite explosion kills two
Workers were tossed several feet into the air and showered with flying rocks and machinery after the premature explosion of dynamite near Allanburg.
Those injured workers would be the so-called ‘lucky’ ones because two others — Carlo Bianco and Lorne Edmund Whitwell — were buried alive under huge piles of the shattered rock.
Four teams of workers had been busy drilling the final seven of some 120 holes while powdermen followed behind and filled the fourteen-foot holes with a charge. They’d been working for about two weeks and had placed almost three tonnes of dynamite.
It was mid-afternoon of their Saturday shift as they made the final preparations for a big blast planned for the following morning.
For reasons unknown, one of the charges was ignited, setting off about 50 to 60 other charges within a 22.5-metre radius. In 15 seconds it was all over. What had been a flat landscape was now littered with broken rock, some in piles 4.5 metres high.
Survivors in the dynamite gangs worked feverishly using pick and shovel to extricate the two missing drillers. After 10 minutes, Bianco was the first to be uncovered, breathing heavily, but still alive.
Dr. MacMillan of Thorold arrived at the scene, but Bianco died 20 minutes after his arrival. Whitwell was the second to be pulled out, already dead.
Of those who survived, Edward Griffiths was the most severely in- jured in the blast. He suffered serious chest and shoulder injuries as well as cuts and bruises after being tossed into the air. He was transferred to St. Catharines General Hospital in the Manufacturers’ ambulance. Others with minor injuries included Lewis Johnson, Joe Altobello and Patsy Boniferro.
Ten witnesses were called to the inquest which convened at the Allanburg Town Hall on Feb. 9. Though most who testified had years of experience in blasting, none could offer an explanation as to what had caused the premature explosion — the connections had not yet been made to fire the load and the armoured cable used was in relatively new condition. The jury returned an open verdict with a recommendation that “all power cables or live wires be suspended seven feet above the surface of the ground.”
Bianco was from the Abruzzo area in southern Italy and had immigrated to Canada in 1924. He was the son of Giuseppe Bianco and Maria De Santo. His brother, Joseph, was living in Thorold at the time of the accident.
Known in Thorold as Carl White, he was said to have left a wife and family in Italy whom he had been preparing to bring to Canada.
Sixteen months before the fatal accident, Bianco and co-worker Boniferro had witnessed the death of a fellow worker who was also operating a drill. In that accident in Section 4, drill operator Charles Pirro had gotten caught in the rapidly revolving drill machinery. Both Bianco and Boniferro had been called to testify at
the inquest into Pirro’s death. — This article is part of a series remembering the men whose lives were lost in the construction of the Welland Ship Canal. The Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial Task Force is a volunteer group established to design, finance and build a memorial to recognize workers who were killed during construction of the Welland Ship Canal. For more information about the memorial, or to contribute to the project, visit www.stcatharines. ca/CanalWorkersMemorial.