1985 Army Bomb Transport Disaster (Checotah, Oklahoma)

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On August 4, 1985, a truck hauling ordnance from an Army munitions plant was involved in a collision with another vehicle, setting off explosions that injured at least 47 people, forced up to 6,000 from their homes, and left a crater 35 feet across and 27 feet deep in Interstate 40.

The truck was carrying 10 bombs, each containing 1,000 pounds of explosives, primarily TNT. They were being taken from the Army Ammunition Plant at McAlester to Sunny Point Terminal, North Carolina.

An ordnance disposal team from Fort Sill and workers from the plant found two undetonated bombs and a third bomb that had broken open and burned but failed to explode. The ordnance was taken to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas for detonation.

www.nytimes.com/1985/08/05/us/47-injured-as-army-bombs-...