Video: 'Texas City Explosion 1947-04-16 Universal Newsreel; Texas City Disaster'

(Wednesday, April 16, 1947, 9:12 a.m. CST) — The French cargo ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer, caught fire and blew up today at the harbor in Texas City, Texas, devastating the town.

A nearby ship, the High Flyer, which was carrying ammonium nitrate and sulfur, caught fire as a result and exploded the following day.

The blasts and fires killed at least 581 people in the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history.

Video: 'Texas City disaster 1947'