92 Die In French Cinema Fire

Northern Advocate, 1 September 1947, Page 4

92 Die In French Cinema Fire

(Rec. 11.0 a.m.) PARIS, Aug. 31. Fire, followed by a panic, in a Paris suburban cinema, last night killed 92 patrons. The chief of police in Paris said that about 90 were killed and 60 injured in the fire. Flames sprang up in a balcony soon after the programme was resumed after intermission. The balcony collapsed on those below. The flames spread swiftly. Many persons were trampled upon as the audience scrambled for the exits. Mothers hurled their children from the balcony, which was about 25ft above the ground floor, tp save them from the blazing inferno. Firemen are still searching the smoking ruins. The police anested Antone Mouillade, 52-year-old director of the cinema. MANAGER CHARGED Police charged him with “involuntary homicide.” The investigating magistrate found that there had been breaches of the Are safety regulations. The police stated that a short circuit started the fire. The cinema was built narrow and high to suit the limited space in a small street. There were two balconies, the top of which fell on to the lower and both crashed into the stalls, pulling hunks of the thin outside brick wail with them. The police learned that a false ceiling of cloth and cloth hangings helped the flames to spread rapidly.