The 1963 Coliseum explosion

On Halloween night, 1963, during a "Holiday on Ice" skating exhibition at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, a propane gas explosion killed 74 people and injured nearly 400.

It was just after 11 p.m. and the skaters were finishing a medley called "Mardi Gras." No one realized that propane gas was leaking from a rusty tank in the concession area, slowly filling the unventilated room.

As the skaters began gliding into a pinwheel formation for the finale the gas came in contact with an electric popcorn machine. When the gas ignited, a blast of orange flame shot 40 feet up through the south side seats, catapulting people and chairs though the air. Concrete chunks and body parts rained down.

Fifty-four people were killed on the scene and another 20 later died of their injuries.



Rescuers used the nearby cattle barn as a temporary hospital and the coroner's office set up a temporary morgue on the ice floor. The dead were placed on plywood and lined up on the ice according to gender and age. Family members who came to identify loved ones had to register at the administration building before being led to the Coliseum.

A Marion County grand jury indicted the state fire marshal, the Indianapolis fire chief, the general manager and the concessions manager of the Coliseum, as well as officers of the company that supplied the gas. But there was only one conviction, the president of the gas supplier, and that verdict was later overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court. According to the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, victims and survivors ultimately received about $4.6 million in settlements.

In 1991, the Coliseum acquired a sponsorship and was renamed Pepsi Coliseum, however that sponsorship was not renewed in 2012.

In Oct. 2012, a $63 million renovation to the coliseum began. Construction of an adjoining 20,000-square-foot arena should be completed by 2014.

The new arena will allow the State Fair to hold events like public skating, youth hockey games and horse shows at the same time a concert or a circus is going on in the Coliseum. Inside the Coliseum, fair officials plan to build double-tiered seating that will increase the building's seating capacity to 9,000 from the current 8,000.

Thursday 16 January 2014

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2014/01/15/coliseum-explosion/4495037/

Five bodies recovered from plane crash in Idaho mountains

Authorities in Valley County say they have recovered five bodies from the wreckage of a plane that crashed in the central Idaho mountains last month.

Lt. Dan Smith with the Valley County Sheriff's Office says deputies were assisted Wednesday afternoon by a Blackhawk helicopter from the Idaho Army National Guard. He says it took two days to get into the remote, snow-covered mountainside, then dig out and remove the bodies.

It appears all five people on board the single engine Beech Bonanza died on impact. Smith says there is not much left of the plane. However, they were able to find the serial number to confirm it is the plane they have been looking for since it went missing on Dec. 1.

The wreckage was located last Friday by Dellon Smith, who is the brother of the pilot, Dale Smith, of San Jose, Calif.

Smith was flying from Baker City, Oregon to Butte, Montana when he lost contact with air traffic controllers while near the Johnson Creek airstrip in Yellow Pine, Idaho.

Smith's son Daniel, his wife Sheree, along with his daughter Amber and her fiance Jonathan Norton were also on the plane.

Lt. Smith said deputies did recover wallets from one of the passengers and the pilot to identify them. The other bodies will have to undergo DNA testing to confirm their identities.

It will now be up to the NTSB to recover the wreckage. They have not be up there yet. Smith says Valley County officials have been sending them photos and talking with them on the phone. No word on when that will take place.

A series of photos sent to KTVB by the Idaho National Guard document the rough, steep terrain surrounding the crash site.

Colonel Tim Marsano said the slope of the landing zone required helicopters crews to do a running onload / offload, meaning the helicopter could not land.

Thursday 16 January 2014

http://www.ktvb.com/news/Five-bodies-recovered-from-plane-crash-in-Idaho-mountains-240372751.html

Floods, landslide kill 13 in Indonesia; 2 missing

Days of torrential rain triggered a landslide and flash floods on Indonesia's Sulawesi island, killing at least 13 people and sending tens of thousands fleeing for safe ground, disaster officials said Thursday.

Residents and rescuers in Sangihe district of North Sulawesi province dug through debris with their bare hands and shovels. Two bodies were pulled from the mud, and eleven others were found in the water late Wednesday, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency's spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

More than 1,000 houses were flooded by overflowing rivers in five other districts of the province, he said.

About 40,000 people fled to temporary shelters, and rescuers were still searching Thursday for at least two more villagers.

Police and soldiers struggled to reach about 1,000 people who were isolated in three hamlets after floods destroyed the only bridge, said the agency's provincial chief Noldy Liow.

He said that rivers bloated by days of rain burst their banks and washed away dozens of houses and vehicles, including in the provincial capital of Manado. Floodwaters reached a meter (3.28 feet) in some places.

"Many people drowned or were buried by mud ... they didn't have time to save themselves," Liow said.

Millions of people live in mountainous regions and near fertile plains that are close to rivers. Seasonal rains and high tides in recent days have caused widespread flooding across much of Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that's home to 240 million people.

Thursday 16 January 2014

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/01/16/floods-landslide-kill-13-indonesia-2-missing.html