One was a shoemaker living on the edge of the city who escaped with severe burns.
He became a minor celebrity as a result.
Saint Pierre, Martiniquetoday.
The volcanic cone of Mount Pelee can be seen in the background.
Photo credit: Crobard/Shutterstock.com
Ludger Sylbaris, born Louis-Auguste Cyparis, was not always that lucky or nice.
He used to get into fights frequently and was a known troublemaker.
Sylbaris was sentenced to one week of solitary confinement in the prison’s dungeon.
His cell was built of stone and partially buried underground.
It was the single most sheltered building in the entire city.
Meanwhile, Mount Pelee was rumbling.
These activities became progressively more frequent and more violent as the weeks passed.
Animals started dying from hunger and thirst.
Even the sea started behaving strangely.
That night, the electric grid gave out sinking the entire city into darkness.
Saint-Pierre, Martinique, before the eruption.
Where better off could one be than in St.
Pierre?, he asked.
All around the city the populace waited for the angry volcano to subside, but they did not flee.
On the heights around the city, residents stood in awe of the stupendous spectacle.
A few minutes before eight, the volcano finally erupted with full might.
Although horribly burned, he was alive and was able to give an account of his ordeal.
Sylbaris cried for help, but of course, no one heard him.
The excruciating heat lasted only a moment, but it was hot enough to burn his flesh.
His wounds were so deep that blood began to ooze out of it.
The cell which saved Ludger Sylbariss life.
Photo credit:Gael Chardon/Flickr
Ludger Sylbaris wasnt the only person to survive the eruption of Mount Pelee.
A young shoemaker, Leon Compere-Leandre, also escaped death despite being severely burnt.
I dropped upon a table.
He was purple and inflated, but the clothing was intact.
Crazed and almost overcome, I threw myself on a bed, inert and awaiting death.
My senses returned to me in perhaps an hour, when I beheld the roof burning.
The volcano destroyed about eight square miles of area centered around St. Pierre.
Inside this area, the destruction of life and property was total.
Houses were pulverized and landmarks made unrecognizable.
The city never recovered after that.
View of the smoldering city taken from the bay.
Photo credit: Royal Commonwealth Society Library
Destroyed Rue Victor Hugo looking north.
Photo credit: Royal Commonwealth Society Library
