Canada Post issues Halifax Explosion stamp marking 100 years since the disaster

Nova Scotia Lt.-Gov Arthur J. LeBlanc has unveiled a Canada Post stamp that commemorates the Halifax Explosion.

The stamp depicts the moments after the munitions vessel SS Mont Blanc collided with the SS Imo in Halifax harbour on Dec. 6, 1917.

The image of the ships is depicted with a newspaper headline from 1917 saying "Halifax Wrecked."

Designer Larry Burke says the challenge was to tell the story in a way that had enough impact so people would understand the "enormity" of the tragedy.

Burke says the newspaper headline "really says everything", and he knew it had to be at the heart of the stamp's concept.

The massive explosion that resulted from the harbour collision killed 2,000 people, injured 9,000 and left 25,000 homeless.