OVER FORTY DEAD

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 129, 29 February 1928, Page 11

OVER FORTY DEAD

ITALIAN KINEMA TRAGEDY TERRIBLE SCENES IN VILLAGE DEMENTED MOTHERS UNABLE TO APPROACH BUILDING By TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION Copyright. (Rec. February 28, 7.15 p.m.) Rome, February 28. A kinema fire at Moriago resulted in a shocking disaster. The number of deaths has not yet been ascertained, but it is believed to be considerable, and includes many children. The display was given on the first floor of an old granary constructed of wood, at which there were three hundred spectators. The film caught tire, and the operator’s wooden cabin was quickly ablaze. The hall became filled with smoke, and men, women and children rushed to the single wooden staircase, which collapsed, Podesta, the proprietor, vainly trying to calm the maddened crowd. Many were thus burned to death, asphyxiated, or crushed to death. Meanwhile there were terrible scenes in the village. Mothers, rushing to see if their children were safe, were unable to approach the burning building. Moriago has no fire brigade, ai d when firemen arrived from Treviso the building was a mass of cinders. Thus far forty bodies have been extricated from the ruins. Podesta and his wife escaped by jumping from a window.