When it rained gold in Mumbai | Candider
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When it rained gold in Mumbai

What caused the gold rain?

 

 

A British freighter, the SS Fort Stikine, caught fire at the Victoria Dock of Bombay, on 14 April 1944. The freighter was carrying valuable cargo in the form of gold bars, cotton and tonnes of explosive ammunition. The gold was on the ship as it was a payment to be made to a bank in Mumbai as reparations for the British War Economy’s impact on Indian exchange rates. As the fire made its way through the ship, it resulted in two separate explosions that were so violent they caused tremors experienced almost 2000km away. The cause of the fire was never discovered.

 

What were the consequences of the explosion?

It was a disastrous accident that resulted in extensive damage to the harbour area. The fire progressed to 11 other ships and subsequently sank them and in the process resulted in 800-1300 deaths. The explosions flung ignited shrapnel over the surrounding area causing commercial buildings and slums to be set ablaze. There is a record of over 80,000 individuals losing their homes and possessions while approximately 50,000 individuals lost their livelihood due to the commercial damage caused by the fire. 

 

The fire took approximately three days to curb and 8000 individuals that worked for 7 months to return the dock to operating condition. Gold bars and live explosive ammunition have been discovered repeatedly since then. For example, in 2011, some dredgers were digging into the seabed to increase the depth of that dock when they discovered 15 tolas (approximately 150 grams) of gold belonging to SS Fort Stikine. 

 

What is the incident’s legacy?

 

 

This was one of the worst disasters in India’s history. After the atomic bombings in Japan, this was the most violent explosion to take place in the eastern theatre of World War II. The tragedy was not forgotten for several decades and is why Fire Brigade Day is observed on April 14, and Fire Service Week during the six subsequent days. In Mumbai and the rest of India, this observation is done in part to memorialise the Mumbai explosion and the lives that were lost in that incident. The fire department’s headquarters there has also constructed a memorial in honour of the 71 firefighters that lost their lives during that incident. 

 

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