DEATH ROLL 92 IN FRENCH CINEMA FIRE

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 September 1947, Page 5

DEATH ROLL 92 IN FRENCH CINEMA FIRE

(Reed. 9.40 a.m.) PARIS, Aug. 31. Three of the injured in the Ruiel fire died in hospital. The deathroll is, now 92. The police arrested Antone. Mouillade, aged 52, a director of the cinema. The investigating magistrate found there had been breaches of the fire safety regulations.

The police stated that a short circuit started the fire. The cinema was built narrow and high to suit a limited space in a. small street. There, were two balconies. The top fell into the lower and both crashed into the stalls, pulling hunks of the thin outside brick wall with them.

The police learned that a false ceiling of cloth and cloth hangings helped the flames to spread rapidly.

Flames sprang up in the balconysoon after the cinema was darkened after the interval. Then the balcony collapsed on those below, and the flames spread swiftly. Many were tramped on as the audience scrambled for the exits. Mothers hurled children from the balcony, which was about 25 feet above the ground floor, to escape the flames.

Firemen are still searching the smoking ruins. _____