GHASTLY FIRE TRAGEDY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 468, 25 September 1928, Page 9

GHASTLY FIRE TRAGEDY

SCORES DIE IN MADRID THEATRE FEARFUL FIGHT FOR THE EXITS BODIES TRAMPLED BLACK AND BLUE GHASTLY details of the Madrid theatre fire reveal that many of the victims killed themselves rather than perish in the fearful inferno that swept through the building. Mothers died with their children about them. Men fought wildly to escape. The bodies found were black and blue through having been trampled on. It is a terrible story. (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) (United Service)

Reed. 10.40 a.m. LONDON, Mon. It is thought doubtful if the Madrid theatre death-roll -will reach the first staggering estimate. As a story of horror, it is the worst in Europe for years. The disaster was all due to the short-circuiting of one lamp amid the scenery. Two minutes later the stage was an inferno, belching black smoke into the auditorium, where the audience (fortunately only one-third of the theatre’s capacity) sat momentarily benumbed. Then there was a wild panic. They jumped from the galleries, jammed the exits, and fought with frenzy, the weaker going down instantly. Many were suffocated before they were overtaken by the flames. The first rescuers entered the main door, where a pile of bodies was incinerated, including seven girls and two boys, 25 men and 22 women; also seven of the rescuing policemen. There were horrible discoveries when the dead were reached. Some had revolver wounds, suggesting that they had committed suicide in preference to a more awful death by fire. Others had knife wounds, testifying to the mad struggle for escape.

Five bodies were recovered with knives clutched in their hands. Evidently these were men who had attempted to fight their way to the exits. One had a large knife wound in his body. It is not known whether he committed suicide or whether he was wounded in the struggle for life. In another case, a mother, together with several children, was found in the ruins, the mother having a bullet wound in her head. A Toledo man saw a wife and her four children die. He pulled out a revolver and committed suicide. Many of the injured in the hospitals are not expected to recover. Some are blinded by the flames. Others are dumb, apparently through terror. Most of the bodies were blue and black from bruises, due to trampling. In some cases the bodies were found interlocked, as though in the last fight for life. FAULTY THEATRE The father of a family of eight has been inquiring anxiously at all the hospitals for his wife and children, who were in the theatre. Apparently all of them perished. Another husband recognised the body of his recently married wife, and six other relatives. The Novadades is the seventh theatre to be burnt down in Madrid in the last 15 years. The authorities had filed seven reports regarding the Novadades Theatre’s instability. A Cabinet meeting will be held tomorrow to decide on relief measures. The cafes and bars in the neighbourhood of the fire have been forbidden to play music for two days. The Spanish Ambassador met King Alfonso, when he arrived from Scotland at Euston station, and informed him of the tragedy. Alfonso was most emotional. He instructed the Embassy to convey his sympathy to the families of the victims. King Alfonso is leaving for Paris on October 25. While in London he will not attend any amusements. He has ordered a funeral Mass for October 25 at Saint James, Spanish Place. GREAT WOODEN PLACE

The firemen had great difficulty in coping with the outbreak, which soon spread to the old houses in the block. The theatre contained a typical Sunday audience. The firemen worked desperately to recover the bodies. Eleven were found in a heap in one corridor. The latest estimate gives the number of dead as 500. There were weird scenes as the flames from the burning theatre died down. The gas and electric street lamps were rendered Useless by the destruction of the mains. The firemen and engineers worked with the aid of huge army flares. It will be impossible, however, to make any real search until dawn this morning. The Prime Minister is still on the scene of the disaster. The Madrid correspondent of the “Daily Express” says the theatre was built of wood. It was the largest and oldest In Madrid. t DEAD BODIES JAM DOORS The fire broke out at the end of the second act of a topical comedy. An immediate panic followed, and the doors were quickly jammed with dead bodies. At least 1,000 people, chiefly those In the six tiers of the cheap balcony

seats, were completely cut off from safety. Maddened men tried to hack their way through the living wall of bodies with knives and other weapons. Then a terrific explosion behind the stage added to the panic. The members of the orchestra bravely kept on playing until another explosion killed

several of the musicians. Then the remainder were forced to flee.

A vast crowd of people outside the theatre watched the fire helplessly. In spite of the snapping and the crackling of the flames, interspersed with explosions, the screams of the burning victims could be heard by the spectators. VICTIMS MAD WITH TERROR The police -and firemen worked with frantic zeal to clear the doors, dragging crushed, bodies into the street, but the panic-stricken people within trampled down new victims as fast as they could be extricated. Within the theatre the flames shot over the stalls and consumed the seats and fittings. Finally -they reached the balconies. Some victims, mad with terror, rushed into the flames. Others flung themselves into the blazing pit.

General de Rivera, who had reached the theatre a few minutes after the outbreak, took complete charge of the situation. A detachment of engineers from the garrison tried to cut holes In the walls of the building with axes, to allow the imprisoned people to escape, but this was only partially sucThe theatre was still burning fiercely at midnight. MAN’S LOST FAMILY While the fire in the city was at its height, some people were seen with their clothes ablaze strugggling to escape from the theatre. One frantic man, badly injured, rushed about asking the whereabouts of his wife and five children, with whom he had been celebrating his birthday.

On one of the landings, 25 bodies were visible huddled together. The theatre fire burned out just before dawn. The firemen are now concentrating their efforts on the fire in the residential buildings in the block. So far 45 bodies have been recovered. The injured total 350.

WITH KNIVES AND TEETH CROWDS FIGHT TO GET OUT (Australian and. N.Z . Press Association) Reed. noon. MADRID, Monday. Three engineers who escaped from the fire, among the last of the survivors, said men and women behaved like wild beasts. Women and children were hurled to the ground and trampled upon. It was the triumph of the strongest. Apparently the fire hoses did not function. The safety-curtain ’was absent. Most of the deaths were due to the collapse of a staircase. Two small children were found to-day unhurt in a lavatory, where they had taken refuge all night. The authorities are of the opinion that it was a mistake to continue the performance with a view to allaying the panic. Two invaluable minutes were lost when the flames Hared up io the auditorium. Some of the bodies bear knife wounds and even bites in the back.