The Halifax Explosion

100 years ago tomorrow, on the morning of 6 December 1917, a French cargo ship carrying high explosives crashed into a Norwegian ship in Halifax Harbour in Canada. The resulting massive explosion killed 2,000 people in Halifax, injured at least 9000 more and destroyed every building within a 1.6 mile radius (over 12,000 in total).

CBC Canada has created an incredible 360 degree video which recreates the collision of the two ships and the explosion which led to the loss of thousands of Canadian lives. The video shows an animated 3d model of Halifax Harbour, the town on the shore and the SS Mont-Blanc and SS Imo. As the video replays the collision you can pan the camera around and explore the complete scene in 360 degrees.

As well as this 360 degree recreation of the explosion CBC Canada has mapped the damage the explosion caused to the town of Halifax. A City Destroyed: 100 Years After the Halifax Explosion includes a map showing the buildings burned, collapsed and wrecked. In Part Two of this web documentary you can also explore an interactive 3d model of Halifax. This model includes the damaged and destroyed buildings. It also includes a number of map markers which you can select to read about some of the victims and survivors of the Halifax explosion.


You can learn more about the individuals killed in the Halifax Explosion in Global News' interactive map of Halifax. The interactive map in The Halifax Explosion killed nearly 2,000 people. Here is where most of them lived shows many of the houses in Halifax where people lost their lives.

The numbered markers show the number of victims in each house. If you select a marker on the map you can view the names of the people who died in that home. You can even click those names to read the details about the individual which were entered in the Halifax Explosion Death Registration Book.

Global News has also created a Children's Map, which maps the homes where 437 victims who were 12 or under died. Again you can click on the names of the victims to read the details entered into the Death Registration Book.