Famed Halifax Explosion survivor passes away
Posted Jul 19, 2010 06:14:12 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
One of the best-known survivors of the Halifax Explosion passed away over the weekend.
“Ashpan” Annie Welsh was a toddler in 1917 when the Emo and Mont Blanc collided in Halifax Harbour causing an explosion that killed about 2000 people.
Welsh’s Richmond Street home was flattened, killing her mother and four-year-old brother, but she was blown under the stove and warmth from the ashpan kept her alive for a full day before she was found.
She was often sought out to talk about the explosion.
Janet Kitz, a local historian and author of 1988’s “Shattered City” tells Metro News she was a “great survivor and “courageous person.”
Welsh was diagnosed with colon cancer several years ago.
Ashpan Annie was 95.
