DREADFUL CALAMITY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5024, 8 September 1926, Page 2

DREADFUL CALAMITY.

FILM AUDIENCE TRAPPED.

CAUGHT IN BLAZING BARN.

LONDON, September 6.

Fire destroyed a barn used as a cinema theatre at Drumcollbghei, Limerick. There was only one exit and the audience was trapped. So far forty bodies have been recovered. Twenty men, ten women, and ten children are still missing. Nine persons were seriously injured.

The barn used by a visiting cinema, which was a novelty in the village. An old wooden room above, a garage was improvised for the occasion, and packed toitsfc.il capacity of 12’5 people. The fire originated in a film and spread with the utmost rapidity to the old timbers, instantly enveloping the hall.

Scenes of indescribable confusion ensued. The entire audience rushed for the only exit, a. narrow ladder to the garage, through a small passage. Here panic reigned, people shrieking and fighting as they found themselves trapped. Women and children fainted and were trampled Sown. Meanwhile, the flames were roaring a yard or two away. Then a portion of the, floor collapsed, carrying several persons, with it. Others farther from the passage endeavoured to escape through small windows, but were unable to do so before being caught by the fierce, flames. One or two jumped fifteen feet to the ground. The cries and shrieks of terrified mothers were heartrending. Now and again the blazing beams fell amidst the struggling throng. Those outside made frantic efforts to subdue the furnace, but without avail. Dense smoke made it impossible to work at close • quarters, and within half an hour the entire barn was razed. BUBNED TO CINDERS. BODIES UNRECOGNISABLE. WHOLE FAMILIES WIPED OUT. LONDON, September 6. Many of the bodies recovered from the Drumcollogher fire were charred beyond recognition, a,nd identification was only possible by articles of wear or jewellery. There were, pathetic scenes all night long, as frantic fathers and mothers sought amidst the dying embers for the remains of children or other relatives. One whole family of six was wiped out. There is barely a household in the village that hits not lost someone. DAYLIGHT’S GRIM SPECTACLE. HEAPS OF CHARRED BONES. MANY TRAMPLED TO DEATH. LONDON, September 6. Daylight brought a grim spectacle, bodies being stretched on the ground awaiting identification. Forty-one have, now been identified, but little remains of the others beyond heaps of charred bones. It is, practically certain that many were trampled to death before being consumed by the, flames. The nearest fire brigade was at Croon, 36 miles away, whither the injured people had to be removed. The cinema proprietor and his operator have been detained. The cro>vd smashed the windows of the operator’s house.