Several hundred people gathered at a military base in New Jersey to mark the anniversary of the Hindenburg disaster.

loading...

The hydrogen-filled German airship burned and crashed as it came in for a landing in Lakehurst 75 years ago Sunday, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and a Navy crewman on the ground.

The Navy Lakehurst Historical Society and the last known living civilian ground crew member, Robert Buchanan, laid a wreath where the 840-foot dirigible came down in 1937.

 

 

The Asbury Park Press reports Buchanan, who was 16 at the time, told the audience how the flames surrounded everyone.

The disaster was captured by a radio reporter who described "all the humanity."

The cause of the accident isn't known.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM