PANIC in a CHURCH at WARSAW.

Patea Mail, 24 February 1882, Page 3

PANIC in a CHURCH at WARSAW.

A Vienna telegram of December 27tb, gives the following brief account of the fatal panic in a church at Warsaw :—From Warsaw the news comes of a catastrophe caused by a false alarm of fire in a church, and of an attack by the populace on the Jews, who are accused of spreading the alarm. It was on Christmas Day, and a large crowd had collected for the service at the Church of the Holy Cross, with winch many patriotic remembrances are connected. All of a sudden a cry of “ Fire ” was raised, and the crowd, scared by the remembrance of the Vienna catastrophe, rushed out by the main entrance into the street, when a number of people, differently stated at from 20 to 40, were crushed, while a much larger number were injured. According to the account of the Neue Wiener Taghlait , the main door leads on to an esplanade raised above the street. Over these steps the scared crowd was pushed. The dead and wounded were removed to the neighboring hospital of St. Robert, and then a dreadful riot commenced. It was rumored that some Jewish thieves had raised the false alarm, and this was in some degree confirmed by the fact that several pickpockets had been arrested by the police. The mob rushed to that part of the town which ia chiefly inhabited by ihe Jews, and commenced their work of devastation. The riot at length reached such a pitch that the military were called out, and it was far into the night before order was returned.