Bomb Truck, Car Collide; Blast Hurts 47

A truck hauling military explosives collided with a car Sunday, triggering the detonations of seven one-ton bombs, injuring at least 47 persons and causing the evacuation of up to 6,000 others, officials said.

The blast also left a huge crater in a highway.

“I decided I know now how it must feel to be in a war,” said Thelma Blackburn, who lives about five blocks from the explosion site.

The flatbed truck collided with a car that was pulling off the shoulder onto the roadway of Interstate 40 near the U.S. 69 interchange, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. The car caught fire and set the truck on fire, and the explosions were triggered when flames reached the bombs, authorities said.

A passenger in the car, Ruth Ross, 75, of Peggs, was hospitalized in fair condition with second-degree burns and chest injuries, said Ronnie Crisp, nursing supervisor at Muskogee Regional Hospital. The car’s driver, Dolly L. Madjenobich, 64, of Ashland, Wis., was treated and released.

Windows Shattered

The truck driver and his passenger were unharmed, authorities said.

The explosions rattled nearby homes, shattered windows, spread debris over a wide area and touched off grass fires that sent smoke billowing over the area.

The crater in the concrete pavement of Interstate 40 measured 35 feet across and 27 feet deep, local Civil Defense Coordinator Leo Smith said.