The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 13

Ireikk PUBLIC LEDGER An Independent Newspaper for All the People VOL. 233, NO. .29 abcde 2 PHILADELPHIA. SUNDAY MORNING. JULY 29.

1945 Coovricht. 1945. bv Triangle Inc. PRICE, TWELVE CENTS mpire Mm IF ipnra Hits Bmldinig9 In Explosion and Flame i 10 Floors Burn As Plane Shears Through Edifice Other stories and pictures on Pages 2 and 3. NEW YORK, July 28 (U.

A B-25 Billy Mitchell bomber rammed into the 78th story of the Empire State Building at 9:52 A. M. today, exploding in a cone of flames that turned the world's tallest skyscraper into a pillar of horror and brought death to at least 13 persons and injury to 20 more. A searing envelope of gasoline flames shrouded 10 stories of the spire-like tower of the 1250-foot building. The flames trapped hundreds of persons within fire and gas-filled rooms more than 1000 feet above tiff f.

i I ill flgfet Nf so te i it I 1 I 1 hyg --r7 li4 -YJTtSS 102nd Floor 1" Observation the street. Three elevators plunged out of control from the 80th floor to the basement. Broken glass and debris rained down over several blocks. Half an hour after the explosion particles still sifted down. EVEN FOG RIPPED AWAY BY BLAST So tremendous was the explosion that it ripped away the fog which had hidden the topmost stories of the skyscraper from the vision of the B-25 pilot.

For two minutes the pinnacle of the chromium-girt Empire State stood out sharp and clear in the drizzle, while orange-red flames licked around. Then the soft fog closed in again to hide the scene from the horrified sight of thousands of mid-town office workers who had rushed to windows at the sound of the blast which echoed over central Manhattan like a block-buster Inside the building there was pandemonium. PLANE ON FINAL LAP OF TRIP The plane was en route to Newark, N. J. from Bedford, on the final lap of a cross-country flight which started at Sioux Falls, S.

D. It was piloted by Lieutenant Colonel William F. Smith, 27, of Watertown, Mass. He and his crew member Staff Sergeant Christopher S. Domitrovich, 31, of Granite City, III were instantly killed.

A Navy chief petty officer, riding in the plane as a passenger, also was killed. A few minutes before the crash, the plane had inquired of LaOuardia Field by radio for instructions on landing conditions at Newark. ROAR OF APPROACHING DISASTER Suddenly, scattered observers near the Empire State tower heard the deep-throated roar of its motors. It was flying in the overcast at about 1000 feet and headed' straight for the fog-hidden skyscraper. A moment later it strnelf tVio nnHi.

-i 86th Floor 1 5" (Acme Telephoto) DISASTER Flaming death and destruction which visited the upper floors of the Empire State Building, world's tallest structure, when a bomber crashed into it yesterday, are shown graphically in these pictures. Above, the gaping hole torn in the building's 79th floor by the crash. At right, smoke billowing above the skyscraper as fires rage in 10 of the upper floors. Below left, photo-diagram of key areas involved in crash, located in a view looking south, with north side of structure shown. Below right, part of the B-25 bomber wreckage lying where it fell in 34th killing two Army airmen and a Navy passenger.

At least 10 others were killed in the crash and 20 injured. 913 Feet Street l7th Floor lyf PMNf HIT 1- 72nd Floor I between the 78fh and 7nih force that one motor drove straight thrown the buiMinK to ih L02: w' "uW'n UInl The fact that the disaster occurred on a Satin-rlnv min (Arm THrphoto) SMOKE HIDES EMPIRE STATE TOWER ing, when manv Emnirp Stat, the toll of the dead and injured. Casualties among pedestrians outside the buildine- wprp rPfinH koo streets are not crowded on Saturdays as they are durinjr the week, and rain and drizzle held down the number EXACT DEATH TOLL STILL UNKNOWN The force of the imnart anH 1 nan autll II1HL many oi tne bodies WPTP hlnwn tn Kite fi iL. tragedy, police, firemen and emergency workers were till trying to establish the exact death toll. ne plane struck near the ceiling of the 78th floor.

The Continued on TAge'Z, Column 3 Coast Guard Aide, 17, Mil i I wnit v--; I fA i I I jrf fe1 I i a 11 Ufe-iiJ 3fr" iff lij 1 4 wIL yrTa-" 77 JJiliUl JUL If nW-1 xs "rv- fJY'ilfei (I Iil34th Srroet JJ Fifth or5 av Jv k4s WAjV ft Tells of Victims' Agony Illustrated on Page 2 By DONALD MOLONEY, U. S. C. G. Told to Mary Harrington There was a Walsrppn's rirnc store across the street.

They gave me syringes, two dozen needles, eight grains of morphine, bandages, 10 tubes of burn ointmpnt. nnrt sterile water and alcohol. GIRL STILL ALIVE I ran first to the sub-basement. out. A priest and a rabbi helped me.

The morphine didn't help her much. Her legs were crushed, and I think her back was broken. There was another elevator operator in the basement, in the same shape. I helped him too. Then I went up to the 79th floor.

I picked up parts of four bodies and helped stack them on a table. ELEVATOR FIXED They called me down to the 70th floor, and I carried three women from there to Ihe 67th floor. They had fixed the elevators. I guess I must have carried and treated about 20 people. All of them Somebody shouted that help was needed there.

I'm 17 yearr old and I'm little, so the firemen let me climb down into the elevator, where the elevator cirl was trnnned had heard the elevator slKot down I about 70 floors. She was still alive and screaming She hung on to me so I could hard 1 iftihilktl 11111 mN ly help her. I aave her mnrnhine tn I iaiia-rJiJ TTii I Ill 'f I I I tf I -J I eae the pain, and marked the dosage on her arm. where it wasn't burned, with her lipstick. I put oil were burned, and suffering terriblv from shock.

I gave morphine to 14 people. We've been told in school for eight months, at Manhattan Beach and Groton. how to treat popl suffering from burns and shock. On the fiSth floor I treated five in- on her burned face. That was the only part of her I 1 i in ii i iiawnM A U'irnnliAtA (A.

P. Wirrnllnint dared treat, the rest of her bnriv was PHOTO DIAGRAM SHOWS WHERE BOMBER STRUCK i burned so badly. I put on sterile bandages, though. We carried her FRAGMENT OF PLANE WRECKAGE IN BUSY 34TH ST. Continued on Pace 2, Column i itii.