Firemen Buried By Wall

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30561, 2 October 1964, Page 13

Firemen Buried By Wall

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

BOSTON, October 1.

Four firemen were killed and seven others injured critically early today when buried under a brick wall.

They were battling a fire in a congested slum district, officials said. The blaze broke out in a four-storey block of flats. Firemen quickly put up five ladders on the rear wall of the building and scrambled up them to battle the fire. Seconds later a section of the top two floors collapsed,

burying five firemen under the flaming debris. Other firemen risked their lives as they raced to the rescue of their fellow workers. Ten minutes later another section of the wall tore loose, buring seven more firemen. An immediate alarm was issued for “all available ambulances.” One ladder truck was partially buried by the bricks and flaming wood. The injured were taken to hospital. Officials said most of them were unconscious and were suffering from internal injuries. Several reporters and photographers narrowly escaped serious injury or death. Police cleared them out of the area only minutes before the wall collapsed. They were standing where the rubble landed.