PICTURE HALL FIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 February 1917, Page 4

PICTURE HALL FIRE.

CAUSES SERIOUS PANIC. Sydney, Feb. 15. During a picture show at the Boys' Brigade Hall, Surrey Hills, a film caught alight, fanning a panic. The audience stampeded down a flight of steps, and, as the result, a boy aged 7 was killed, and 2f> boys, women, and girls were taken to hospital. A number of othev* Here slightly injured. When the lilm took fire a terrible scene occurred, the boys fighting like maniacs. Near the stairs a couple in the leading division fell, and in a few minutes the landing was piled with a secthiir.; mass of boys slowly suffocating with the weight of (hose on top. lire, which lasted a few minutes and caused no damage, was extinguished, and the work of rescue commenced. ONLY ONE SERIOUS CASE. STAIRCASE THE BANGER FACTOR. Rwojved Feb. 1">. 7.40 p.m. Sydney, Feb. 15. Excepting nalf-a-dozen, all the \ietims of tlie Boys' Brigade Tlall stampede itavc left the hospital. Only one case is serious. The chief contributing cause of the mishap was a sharp turn on a narrow stairway. After the first- rush, those in charge succeeded in inducing many of the boys to return to their seats. This, and the methods adopted by the rescuers, prevented much worse results. Some children attempted to escape by the windows, a drop of 30 feet, but luckily these were locked as soon as the outbreak started.