TERRIBLE PANIC AT FIRE.

Shannon News, 13 July 1923, Page 1

TERRIBLE PANIC AT FIRE.

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MANY TRAMPLED TO DEATH.

AWFUL END TO A CONCERT.

Further .details .have. cov..'.-;''to Ji'and of the appalling" 1 dif ii.ifer 'ifahsed -by the fire which broke out id an old wooden country schoolhouse at Cleveland, South Cariolina, while children were-giiving enii§rtainn|jesi&' in the presence of their parents. There was a panic-stricken struggle to reach r the.-only §xit. pNlany . persons ,w t erq trampled to death and otlVers were burned' alive. {ftrii' dll,* 41‘; child rern,: IBf men, and 15 women lost their lives, and more than 100 were injured. Who e families were wiped out. The entertainment was given on tjre f eve of the school- holidays* and - ,60o|parents* arid friends h*tended; "pW/ef essays had been' rdaS. ! &oems and school songs sung, arid prizes were about 1 ? tobe Awarded,-when r &lii old-fashioned oil lamp ; suspended from the centre of the room- fell, ~ tiw-i ing to the loosenhig' of a ] liodK,'^dn 1 the heads of the people beneath, and exploded,' scattering blazing oil in all directions. The clothing of several persons became ignited, and they schearned hysterically, causing an immediate panic. Nobody made an effort to put out the fire, which was at first confined, to a small space ,on the floor, arid could easily have "been overcome.

Women raised the qry f,oi! f'Fire!” "and crushed madly for their children, who stood huddled on the platform, crying. Teachers vainly tried' Jit or the first mtunent to Men, mostly farmers, who had driven to the schoolhouse, idkshed for the only exit, about night feet, wide,"lead-: ing down one flight of narrow steps to the outside ! ddo¥way. . ■'/ People struggled at the exit and on the stairs like wildranimals., .They became jammed together, ana forgot' everything except, the single desire to escape the flames, ! which by nbw had made serious headway, and were burning at their backs, creeping toward them.

People fell to the floor and were, trampled on.. They'vainly appealed for assistance as the ‘ifrowd .In the doorway and on 1 the • stairs swayed' back and forth trying'to move'forward. Some women, losing their ballandce on stairs, -were pushed ; down and piled in heaps as others.. crawled over them. The ories and'groans of the dying mingled with the heartrending appeals of mothers who could not find their children in the mel 6*6. w J ROARING FURNACE.

The schoolroom became aroaring furhace, and people who were unable to push their way through the exit jumped from ground about 20ft. below. Many broke arms and legs. The aniatetir firemen ;in the ...town were unable to cope with the flames because their rapid spread had entirely enveloped the wooden ' building within 15 minutes, and those who were still captive ifiside, held there by their injuries, were burned to death. .Entire families were wiped out. Mrs. Phillips and her three children, Mr. Charles- Heading rand 7 four.-children,, and Mrs. Croft a.nd> three children were killed. t Sergeant Hilton, of the police force of the neighbouring town of Camden, took charge of what small rescue work was possible.. - The •'Whole countryside turned out on seeing flame 3 in the sky, and rushed to the school in their cars. .They were unable to do anything except throw buckets of water ineffectively on the flames. Houses in the vicinity were turned into hospitals, afid first aid was rendered by farmers’ wives.’ There were too few doctors available to give quick assistance to all needing it. Children, received attention first, and there were pitiful scenes as IfLtle girlo and boys who had been dropped'from windows by hysterical parents were removed to neighbours;* houses,, suffering great pain.

„A HEARTRENDING SIGHT. Sergeant Tilton, in an interview, said:-“ It was the most heartrending sight I ever saw. When I arrived there the schoqlhquse ;was a (! mas%?6t flames, and people were, and groaning.

“ Many : of those who had got out were struggling to ;get back again ;to rescue their lost children, to the confusion and retarding the exit of those penned in. - “We tried our best.’to help those who were imprisoned amid the flaLmes but if was of no use. I saw parents badly injured and in terrible jpain, forget all about their own sufferings and rush about appealing for help for their children.

“It was impossible to obtain facts for a long time, so excited and griefstricken were the survivors. It is probable that the lamp hook became loose owing to~ the swaying of , the building when -the audience stamped on the floor in approval Of the children’s displays. • '. " :

MANY'; TRAMPLED UPON. , “ It is apparent from she braises! on some of the bodies {'hht people;.were knocked down and trampled on by th e maddened crowd Ihside -the buildln'gf before the fire reached them. We laid : ' the' by side. Hundreds came round to us

to identify them. Many of the boles wgre;so terribly mutilated that identification was impossible, especial- - ly in the case'of small children. “It "Was i pitiful , to fee.- half-crazy country-folk, driven* out Of their minds by‘grief, Searching] among the~ blackened or some other token of-identification. £ You would see a woman, hunting; then she would scream and faint. | Everybody; knevif everybody else at the entertainment, havlngbeen neighbours for many yearn | It was the most ambitious sfftalr of tits kind ever . given in this vifinity* s- The people, ttiostly farmfrs„%d sm|ll landowners are very jproud of {their' children's schoolwork. ’and our anhvfal' school entertainment is one most im.pprtant events jin, the life of our com- - munity.” **" ‘ ’ • . .