Fall of a Concert Hall at Smyrna.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 184, 20 May 1873, Page 7

Fall of a Concert Hall at Smyrna.

TWO HUNDRED PERSONS REPORTED DROWNED. The following details are given in the Levant Herald of the terrible accident at Smyrna:— Smyrna, Feb. 10. A fearful disaster has occurred in Smyrna, Last night, during a crowded entertainment, the Cafe Kivoto, built upon piles over the sea, fell through, and upwards of 200 persons were drowned. The names of the victims are not yet known. The greatest dismay and desolation prevails in Smyrna. On Sunday night, at ten o’clock, the Cafe Kivoto, built upon piles over the sea, broke down suddenly during a performance given by a company of acrobats. The proprietor of the cafe says ho only sold 180 tekets ; but the ])eople saved declare that there were 200 persons present. Most of them were of the poorer class, and there were not many Turks there, or young men of respectable families. At 10 o’clock a loud cracking was heard, and within five minutes the entire cafe had disappeared under j water. A few of the persons near the entrance 1 contrived to effect their escape, and some i persons saved themselves by jumping through 1 the windows into the sea. The boatmen rowed up in numbers, but their efforts to save life was in vain. The profound silence which succeeded the piercing cries of despair told too plainly the terrible character of the disaster. The Catholic and Greek Archbishops were on the spot early the following morning. Yesterday forenoon the workmen of the Quay Company were actively engaged in removing the roof of the submerged cafe'. The search after the dead bodies was a sad spectacle ; the acrobats were withdrawn from the water in tlu ir showy costumes of the previous night; the limbs of all the bodies were contracted with pain. Two hearses were engaged the whole of the day in conveying the remains discovered to the’ hospitals. t)f the fifty bodies depos ted at the Greek hospital twentyeight were claimed up to four o’clock yesterday afternoon, and eleven were claimed at the Catholic hospital. Divers were busy at work all day, and every minute a fresh body was brought up. To-day they recommenced their melancholy task at day-break, and twenty more bodies were found. The total number of bodies recovered up to the present is eighty, and it is supposed that there arc still fifty more in the water. An English captain, two Turkish merchants, a young man of good connexions, an Italian captain, a telegraph clerk, and some commercial clerks are among the vict ms. The feeling of grief and consternation is general, and"the ball advertised to take place in the Casino has been countermanded. The police have closed all the other cafe's built upon piles on the sea. One man saved has lost the use of his speech. The company of acrobats consisted of seven persons, of whom three were women, and one of these latter only survives. The Government will institute proceedings against the proprietor of the cafe', who did not pay heed to the warning of danger which was given him in time.