A GREAT FIRE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 17, 31 October 1938, Page 5

A GREAT FIRE

DEATH-ROLL OF 100 FEARED. MARSEILLES SHOPPING AREA. FIVE ACRES SWEPT BY FLAMES. (United Press Association —Copyright.) PARIS, October 29. Many were killed and property worth £500,000 was destroyed in a fire which swept yesterday through five acres of buildings in two blocks surrounding the main street of Marseilles, the famous Cannebiere. The police announced that at least 50 persons were missing, but it is feared that the death-roll may reach 100.

Tho fire, which w r as one of the greatest in modern Europe, devoured the heart of the Marseilles shopping and hotel area. Troopjs Called Out. Reuter’s Marseilles correspondent says it is feared that the death-roll will bo 100. By the official list of names, 46 have disappeared, all employees of the Nouvelles Galeries. At least 30 employees were having tea. or were off duty, but they have not been located. There is no longer danger of a fresh outbreak, but it is impossible to begin a search of the ruins before the afternoon. Ghostly bluish smoke is rising to the clouds as firemen continue to deluge the embers. The first hint of the cause of the fire is a suggestion that workmen’s oxygen blowpipes on the first floor of the Nouvelles Galeries were responsible. After nightfall the flames, which reached a height of 300 feet, were visible for miles out at sea.

Troops were called out and the buildings were evacuated. Ten thousand, Senegalese troops were rushed up and cordoned off the centre of the sea.

A terriffic explosion in the Nouvelles Galeries swept the flames and burning fabrics hundreds of feet into the air, setting fire to more buildings. The store itself collapsed with a roar like thunder.

Two cinemas, a bank, the Air France offices, and numerous shops and offices were destroyed.

4 Prime Minister Assists.

Members of the Foreign Legion held back frantic people who were trying to rush into the danger zone to seek relatives.

All the fire brigades were called out, and they were reinforced by brigades of troops, who were brought in special trains from Lyons and Toulon. The Prime Minister (M. Daladier) adjourned the Radical Congress as a sign of mourning for the victims of the fire. He personally directed rescue efforts.

Police rushed into tho Hotel de Nauailles to recover vital State documents, which were locked in the Ministers rooms. It is feared that some have been lost.

Traffic was brought to a standstill, as the city was under a blanket , of smoke, causing a temporary panic, in which armed troops put dow r n looting. During the fire thieves, taking advantage of the confusion, ransacked the rooms of the Hotel de Nouailles. Troops blew down walls to prevent them from falling in dangerous directions.

A man clinging to a rope thrown over a beam, in the hope of launching himself to safety, was suddenly hoisted to the second storey by a heavier man clinging to the other end of the -fo.pe. Both, after see-sawing, dropped into the flames. One was rescued.

A policeman caught four girls in his arms as they leapt from the flames. To-day survivors of the staff of the Nouvelles Galeries assembled, weeping, to hear a roll-call of the employees. It is believed that many were trapped in a lift.

FIRE»FIGHTING DEFICIENCIES. JUDICIAL INQUIRY PROCEEDING (Received This Day, 1.55 p.m.) LONDON, October 30. The Marseilles correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that the fire having exposed the hopeless inadequacy of the fire-fighting department, including the delayed arrivals of engines, the absence of rescue nets, shortness of the ladders and the bursting of rotten hoses, the Minister of the Interior (M. Sarraut) has decided to organise a brigade on the Parisian model.

A judicial inquiry is urgently proceeding. The press demands the resignation of the Mayor and Corporation.