Gone At 3:17 - The Worst School Disaster In American History
PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) - Rob Pratte talked with local authors David Brown and Michael Mereschagin about the worst school disaster in American history.
At 3:17 p.m. on March 18, 1937, a natural gas leak beneath the London Junior-Senior High School in the oil boomtown of New London, Texas, created a lethal mixture of gas and oxygen in the school's basement.
The odorless, colorless gas went undetected until the flip of an electrical switch triggered a colossal blast.
The two-story school, one of the nation's most modern, disintegrated, burying everyone under a vast pile of rubble and debris.
More than 300 students and teachers were killed, and hundreds more were injured.
Take a listen and read the book.
