A FIRE DISASTER

Hokitika Guardian, 26 September 1928, Page 5

A FIRE DISASTER

death boll unknown. 85 DEAD BODIES. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright). MADRID, Sept. 25. The majority of the fire victims were of the poorest class. The reason for the high death toll on the landing of the first gallery was that a cripple, supported on crutches, and leaning on the arm of a policeman, fell to the floor. His crutch tumbled crosswise, and it tripped the stampeders. Only the strongest of them were able to escape over the struggling bodies in the smoke-filled staircase. The policeman was incinerated. Eighty-five bodies have been recovered so far, but the total dead is unknown. FUNERAL OF VICTIMS.’ (Received this, day at noon.) MADRID, Sept. 25. There was mourning throughout the city on the occasion of the funeral of the victims of the theatre disaster. The streets in the neighbourhood of the General Hospital, where the dead were ranged in rotvs, were black; with workmen attending en masse. The route to the cemetery was lined with bareheaded, kneeling citizens, praying during the passage of the cortege, which included numerous carriages loaded with wreaths. Representatives of King Alfonso and General de Rivera headed the mourners. Many of the victims were buried at the public expense.. There were pitiful scenes when the coffins were laid in a common grave. Cinema theatres closed in respect for the dead. >