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ONE OF the largest non-atomic explosions ever experienced in Australia
rocked a liquid petroleum gas storage depot not far from Sydney’s Mascot
International Airport in the early hours of Monday morning. A series of
explosions in the depot, owned by Boral Industries, triggered an enormous
blast in a 60 000-litre gas container, throwing it more than 150 metres
into a nearby canal. The intense heat from the explosions and fires charred
adjacent containers of equal size, but safety valves vented vaporising gas
to burn safely in the atmosphere. Emergency personnel evacuated residents
within a 3-kilometre radius of the depot before the main explosion. The
depot, directly beneath the flight path to Australia’s busiest airport,
was severely damaged but no one was killed or injured because the facility
was deserted at the time.