THE SUNDERLAND CALAMITY.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1064, 25 July 1883, Page 3

THE SUNDERLAND CALAMITY.

y JL X©rril>l© Scene. Some particulars of the above are given in the Mail telegrams. It appears that at. the top of the first flight of stairs from the gallery was a door, . which was opened only twenty inches, and thus but one child 1 at a time could get through. At this point, while the mass of children was pushing forward, one of them felland wasinnablev to rise owing to the crowding. The result was that aiarge number were pushed down, trampled, and suffocated. The scene was terrific. effort . could stop the mad rash of affrighted children. They came on pell mell, struggling without much shouting, and soon over two hundred were knocked down and suffocated to death by others trampling on them. The greater number of bodies, which were badly mangled from the trampling, laid seven or eight deep. Many of the victims killed had the clothing torn from their bodies, and this, together with the bleeding wounds of the unfortunate, showed the terrible nature 1 of the struggle; - The excitement in town was terrible. A crowd of 20 000 people surrounded the Hall, and the authorities ordered out the military to preserve order. The bodies were laid out in the Hall, and the of those killed were admitted to identify their lost children. Heartrending scenes occurred, mothers of dead children constantly uttering piercing shrieks,, and many fainted on discovering the bodies of their little ones. The ticket-taker throws the blame for the calamity upon the men connected with the entertainment, who, it appears, : fastener! the doors half way open, in order that prizes might be given to the children one at a time. One hundred free graves were provided in one cemetery for the reception of the victims. 7 The Empress of Germany wrote to the Queen expressing deep sympathy with the sufferers by this terrible disaster.