Burned to Death.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 444, 8 February 1890, Page 4

Burned to Death.

THE FArE OF TWENTY-SIX BOYS IN LONDON. THEY ARE SUFFOCATED IN THEIR BEDS. FATAL RESULTS OF A FIRE IN A CHARITABLE INSTITUTION. The boys’ section of the Paupers’ School, in the district of Foresbgate, in connection with -the Whitechapel and Poplar Unions, took lire on January 1 while the inmates were asleep, and was burned with terrible results. Twenty-six boys in the upper storeys were suffocated. Fifty-eight were safely taken from the burning building amid terrible excitement. Two matrons escaped by sliding down water pipes. Several boys escaped in the same way. The superintendent repeatedly rushed through the flames and brought out a number of inmates. There were six hundred persons in the institution. Tho bodies of those suffocated were carried to the main hall of the building, which was still profusely decorated with Christmas greens. The fire was caused by the overheated stove. The female department, in which were 250 girls, was not touched. The boys retired on the previous evening in the highest spirits, having been promised presents and New Year’s fetes next day. The scenes in the main hall, where the bodies of thedeadboys lay, were harrowing. Relatives and .school fellows of those who perished are loud iii their lamentations. Further reports of the fire show that it originated in the clothing room beneath the boys’ dormitory. The smoke and flames issuing from the stove flue alarmed those sleeping on the top floor and they escaped. The fire engines were promptly on the spot. Tho employees of 'the adjacent railway station rushed to the scene and rendered valuable assistance. The cries of the boys who were unable to escape were terrible. The bodies of two boys 'were badly burned, but it is believed that they were suffocated before being burned. The ages of the dead range from seven to twelve. It is reported that two firemen were injured and another killed.