KENT TRAGEDY

Hokitika Guardian, 13 July 1929, Page 5

KENT TRAGEDY

MANY BOYS PERISH

AT FIRE BRIGADE FETE. f (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright). UONDON, July 12. Nine cadets were burned to death tnrough the collapo of a dummy house at a lire brigade display at Gillingham Park, in Rent. A fete was being held in aid of a local hospital, and the dummy house was built for the purpose, of illustrating life-saving methods. The house was set on fire prematurely, and the boys perished before they could be reached.

FURTHER, PARTICULARS. LONDON, July 12.The building in which the cadets perished was a wooden structure of three storeys, and it contained piles of loose wood, saturated with oil, in order to make the blaze spectacular. The cadets were caught in a sheet of flames which shot through the roof and spread with terrible rapidity, involving the whole building. Scoutmaster Newton said that there were fifteen persons inside the house, including Cadets and Boy Scouts. Several of these were dressed as clowns, and one was dressed as an old woman, the idea being to give' a' toucli of comic relief. , ' The firemen dashed among the debris, pulling out the dead and th,e injured. A searchlight was turned on and ambulances were rushed, up. The Mayor of Gillingham witnessed the tragedy, and lae was heart-broken. The people who were watching the antics of the clowns and other occupants thought that their gestures and cries were part of the fun. Even when the flames were at their height, some of • the onlookers did not know that lives were being lost. It is considered likely that a dropped cigarette or a match caused the fire.

TWO MORE VICTIMS SUCCUMB 'Received this day at 8 a.m.) LONDON, July 12. Two more have died in the hospital, making the Gillingham death-roll 12.