On the morning of December 6, 1917, Halifax was a beautiful, peaceful and prosperous city. Within hours it was devastated by the biggest accidental explosion the world had ever seen. The blast was caused by a mid-harbour collision between a French munitions ship carrying almost 3,000 tons of explosives and a Belgian relief vessel. Sixteen hundred people died, and nearly 20% of the city's population--9,000-- were injured. The city's entire north end was flattened by the explosion and the tidal wave that followed. In "Just One Big Mess": The Halifax Explosion, 1917, poignant photos and the voices of survivors help tell the tragic story of an event whose enormity still resonates today.
On the morning of December 6, 1917, Halifax was a beautiful, peaceful and prosperous city. Within hours it was devastated by the biggest accidental explosion the world had ever seen. The blast was caused by a mid-harbour collision between a French munitions ship carrying almost 3,000 tons of explosives and a Belgian relief vessel. Sixteen hundred people died, and nearly 20% of the city's population--9,000-- were injured. The city's entire north end was flattened by the explosion and the tidal wave that followed. In "Just One Big Mess": The Halifax Explosion, 1917, poignant photos and the voices of survivors help tell the tragic story of an event whose enormity still resonates today.