Switzerland, Mitholz Explosion 1947 (b/w photo)

After the explosions in the ammunition tunnel in Blausee-Mitholz in the Kandertal valley, a shot of a schnapps by a pipe-smoking farmer, recorded in December 1947. In the night of December 20, 1947, three massive explosions destroyed the 7,000 tons of ammunition stored in a depot above Mitholz-Blausee. After this catastrophe, Mitholz looked like an area devastated by war. Nine people had died in their homes, seven of them seriously injured. More than 200 people were made homeless. More than 100 buildings were destroyed or damaged. The cause of the accident could never be completely clarified.