Part of the track where the explosion took place at Braamfontein on 19 February 1896Thecrater created by the dynamite explosion (looking west) at Braamfontein on 19 February 1896
On 16 February 1896, a freight train with eight trucks ofdynamite – 2300 cases of 60lb each, or about 60 tonnes – was put in a siding atBraamfontein railway station. The dynamite was destined for nearby mines, but the mine's stores of dynamite were already full so the train was left in the siding – for days, in very hot weather – until there was somewhere to store the dynamite.[1]
On the afternoon of 19 February, after labourers had started to unload the train, ashunter came to move it to another part of the siding; but after the impact of the shunter, the dynamite exploded. The explosion left a crater60 metres long,50 metres wide and8 metres deep. The explosion was heard up to200 kilometres away. Herman Eugene Schoch recorded hearing the explosion in Rustenburg, approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) away.[2]
Suburbs as far away asFordsburg were seriously damaged, and about 3,000 people lost their homes.[3]
Accounts vary, but it is thought that over 70 people were killed[4] and more than 200 were injured. A memorial at the Braamfontein cemetery reads that 75 "whites and coloured" were killed.[5]
In 2012, artist Eduardo Cachuco created "Explosion, 1896", a complex artwork based on the explosion which was shown at the "looking glass" exhibition.
