THEATRE FIRE

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 February 1937, Page 7

THEATRE FIRE

DEATHS ESTIMATED AT 800.

[BY CABLE —PBESB ASSN. —COPYBIGHT.j

LONDON, February 14.

The Antung correspondent of the “Daily Mail” reports that survivors of the theatre fire are still scrambling among the smouldering ruins searching for the bodies of relatives. Many of the searchers are orphaned boys and girls. So far 680 bodies have been recovered. Many are unrecognisable. The death roll is estimated at 800, and 100 are seriously injured. Those in the audience, who had assembled for a gala performance in celebration of the Chinese New Year, were' wearing long, gaily-hued robes over which many tripped when .attempting to escape. . The confusion was so great that less than half the audience had emerged when, after the collapse of a gallery had flung the occupants on to the frenzied mass below, the blazing walls and roof fell in, completely defeating the courageous rescue efforts of firemen' and Japanese troops. Fifty houses were also destroyed.

Among the bodies recovered is that of a Japanese policeman who sacrificed his life in attempting to cut a hole in a wall to release people who were imprisoned.