The Lapua Cartridge Factory explosion ( fi, Lapuan patruunatehtaan räjähdys) was an

industrial disaster This article lists notable industrial disasters, which are disasters caused by industrial companies, either by accident, negligence or incompetence. They are a form of industrial accident where great damage, injury or loss of life are caused. Ot ...

in an

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

factory in

Lapua Lapua (; sv, Lappo) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located next to the Lapua River in the region of South Ostrobothnia. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The mun ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on 13 April 1976. Forty workers were killed and 60 people injured. This was Finland's worst industrial disaster.

Explosion

The explosion occurred at 07:43, completely destroying the building. The blast was heard up to away. Most of the injured had been in the factory at the time, but some outside were injured by shrapnel. Of the dead, thirty-five were women. Fifty-two children under the age of 16 lost at least one parent in the accident. A strike by telephone engineers meant that there was reduced communication in Lapua at this time, as many of the circuits had not been fully repaired after the winter and the telephone exchange was quickly overwhelmed as relatives phoned searching for information. Rescue efforts were hampered by fires, causing several of the remaining cartridges to explode at sporadic intervals. Beginning at 08:05, the injured began to be transferred to the district hospital in

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; la, Wegelia, formerly sv, Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; east of Vaasa, north of Tampere, west of Jyväskylä and southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bru ...

. Staff at this hospital had already received training in preparation for a major incident, as the town was located at a railway junction. Medical staff were concerned that the clothing worn by victims of the incident could include live ammunition which could be accidentally set off. Military helicopters brought blood supplies from

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

for transfusions.

Response

The day of the disaster, the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

, Ingvar S. Melin, visited the health centre in the town and the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

observed a minute's silence. Many of the funerals were broadcast live on Finnish television. The accident resulted in an enhanced level of crisis support from the Finnish authorities and donations from private individuals came in from across the nation to help.

Investigation

Debris from the scene was taken to the laboratory of the

Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (which i ...

for analysis. In November 1976 investigators found that the explosion had begun with a machine which dispensed gunpowder and had spread from there, causing a chain reaction. Investigators tested numerous possible scenarios, among them the theory that rust had caused the machine to malfunction or that a foreign object had lodged in it. However, a definitive cause of the explosion was never discovered. Investigators speculated that poor ventilation in the factory had caused a buildup of gunpowder dust, which was then ignited by a spark. The accident resulted in new legislation in the armaments industry which brought in stricter safety measures. In 1978 legal action against the factory's owners began; this ended in 1982 with all defendants being acquitted. A few weeks after the explosion, the decision was taken to rebuild the factory. It was rebuilt from the town centre.

References

{{coord missing, Finland 1976 in Finland 1976 industrial disasters April 1976 events in Europe Explosions in 1976 Explosions in Finland Fires in Finland History of South Ostrobothnia Lapua 1976 disasters in Finland