Accidents at the Paris Exhibition.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1974, 29 June 1900, Page 2

Accidents at the Paris Exhibition.

NINE SIGHT-SEERS KILLED

A serious accident occurred on Sunday. April 29, at the Paris Exhibition, involving the deaths of nine persons and injuries to many others. A suspension bridge over the Avenue de Suffren, connecting the Camp de Mars with the Panorama of the Celestial Globe, suddenly broke down while a number of people were passing under it. The bridge, which was an orna mental structure, was still so far incomplete that eight men were actually at work on it when it collapsed. Ihose who witnessed the affair say they heard a fearful crack, and then saw the bridge break into pieces amid a cloud- of dust. Terrifying shrieks followed, and evervone rushed to the spot to ascertain what had happened, arriving in time to see a mass of frightened people struggling wildly to escape from the falling timbers. The crowd, however, was so great that they were unable to fight their way out, and they fell to the ground one on the other in a heap. For a time an alarming panic prevailed, but happily a large number of workmen were in the grounds of the Exhibition, and they were immediately brought together to clear away the wreckage and extricate those who were buried beneath it. The work was conducted as rapidly as possible. Altogether the bodies of seven dead persons were recovered. Many were injured, two of these dying subsequently. All the killed were French, with the exception of one, who hailed from Hungary. An accident, causing the death of two woikmen and injuring two others, occuiredon the following afternoon, owing to the collapse of a scaffold in the Exhibition Build« ings. All the four victims were painters. The accident occurred in the Salle des Fetes, at the top of the ground staircase, The scaffolding had been fixed up by the Co-operative Labor, Society at the top point of the span abo/e and on the right of the staircase. This scaffolding was composed of two beams supporting a plank flooring, and it was the two beams which gave way, causing the urn fortunate workmen to fall 50ft.