CITY ON FIRE
10,000 HOMELESS. RAIN INCREASES DISTRESS. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION-COPYRIGHT LONDON, July 12. The Messina correspondent of the Daily Express says a section of the city whicti was rebuilt by the Americans after the 1908 earthquake, mostly consisting of wooden structures, is now on fire. Ten thousand people are homeless.
Torrents of rain increased the distress and failed to extinguish the flames. The outbreak ijroduced a panic, and hundreds were injured in stampedes from the blazing streets. Troops were called out to stop looting, and martial law was proclaimed. The navy has landed men to assist the fire fighters. The fire is attributed to incendiarism/ by a student, who failed in the entrance examination to a school, where the outbreak began.
Messina, a congested city with a population of about 100,000, is the capital of the province of Messina, in Sicily, and is situated on the Strait of Messina, which divides Sicily from Italy. The town suffers periodically from earthquakes, the most terrible occurring in December, 1908, when the city was devastated and over 70,000 lives were lost.
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Bibliographic details
Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 14 July 1924, Page 5
Word Count
179CITY ON FIRE Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 14 July 1924, Page 5
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