[1][2][3] 25-year-old truck driver Ronald Holzberger had left East Botany on 28 August 1972 with a 21 tonne (23 tons) load of Nitropril, Imperial Chemical Industries' brand of a pourous type of ammonium nitrate.
[5] However, upon reaching Taroom, the two brothers decided to swap vehicles after Bill Holzberger had complained about his truck becoming difficult to operate due to electrical issues.
[5] Not realising the danger they were in, the three men were standing near the burning truck when the ammonium nitrate ignited and caused a massive explosion which was heard in the towns of Moura and Theodore where it shook houses.
[7] Evan and Douglas Becker's two brothers Russell and Owen had suffered polio as children and their sister Kay had died as a child in 1951 after developing encephalitis.
[8][9] Both the Taroom and Wyandra incidents have been referenced by international media when reporting on ammonium nitrate disasters, such as the 2020 Beirut explosion.