DISASTER AT A BULL FIGHT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6213, 15 October 1881, Page 7

DISASTER AT A BULL FIGHT.

A more terrible catastrophe than one which took place at Marseilles the other night could scarcely be imagined. A bull fight had been organised in the New Circus, situated in the Promenade on the Prado. It being Sunday, a vast gathering of holiday folks assembled to see the sport. All went well till about five o'clock, when suddenly the stands, which were made of wooden planks, gave way and precipitated tho occupants, about two thousand in number, pell-mell on to the ground. The horrible scene that followed can be better imagined than described. For some minutes the shrieks and cries of the victims, as they lay jambed and crushed amid the debris, paralysed the movements of the circus people, who rushed about in the greatest confusion. But the first terrible shock over, the troops were sent for, and the work of rescue began. The sad news soon spread throughout the town, and in a short time nearly all the inhabitants flocked to the spot in quest of missing friends. It took several hours to extricate the dead, dying, and wounded from the ruins. Twelve arc reported killed, and one hundred and fifty wounded. Among the victims is M. Imhauss, Paymaster-General of the Treasury, who had his right leg smashed. While this accident was taking place at Marseilles, another fatal bull fight was witnessed at Nimes, where two of the torreros were nearly impaled on the horns of the animals. One of the men is reported to have died from his wound.