PANIC AT RACES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19951, 21 May 1928, Page 12

PANIC AT RACES.

GRANDSTAND COLLAPSES. OVER 200 PERSONS INJURED. WOMEN TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT. Upwards of 200 people were injured when portion of the Leger stand at the Rosebery racecourse collapsed on May 5, says a Sydney paper. The accident occurred just before the Trial Stakes was run. Rain commenced to fall and a huge crowd, estimated at 2000 to 2500, packed into the stand, a one-storey wooden concern supported on hardwood uprights and struts of oregori timber 9in. by 3in., with underneath a tea-room and liquor bar. About 20ft. of the sloped and terraced staging at the western end of the building collapsed and hundreds of people ware flung in all directions. In the mad scramble which ensued, men and Women were trampled under foot. Scores of men, believing that the whole structure was about to crumple up, jumped tho paling fence into the course proper. It was fortunate that some ten people only were having tea below. It was a miracle that they were not killed instantly. The crash followed immediately after a report like a thunderclap. Men and women were tightly wedged on every ledge of tho wooden structure when a grinding, creaking sound gave way to, a dull roar, and the terraced flooring crumpled up and sagged 'in a second to tho asphalted flooring some 10ft. below. In that brief moment some two hundred people, men, women and children, too, were thrown into a frantic, struggling mass. Terrified, and believing that the whole structure was about 10 crumble on top of them, few people kept their heads, and many of the worst injuries suffered were caused in the mad scramble for safety which ensued. Cries of the Panic Stricken. Women shrieked in terror, while some men hoarsely urged the crowd to move backwards and upwards to safety. Iho rear portion of the stand remained intact. Only those immediately in front, and near the ground level, were really in imminent danger when the struts supporting the terraced flooring gave way. Above the crash of the collapse were raised the wild screams of the women and the hoarse cries of the panic-stricken men. Many were flung off their feet and were tumbled into jostling, struggling, kicking, cursing, Heaps. It was a dreadful scene. Everybody was seized wtih an unreasonable terror. A few people were seated in the tea-rooms underneath the stand, and were slightly injured before they escaped from the place. Had the tearooms being crowded, however, it is likely that many would have been seriously injured. Furniture in the place was smashed to pieces. Horrible instances of sheer brutality were witnessed during the stampede of the crowd to leave the stand. Even those standing at unaffected points were stricken with fear and fought their way into the open. Miss Victoria Watson was felled as she struggled to tho assistance of a young woman with an infant in her arms. Miss Watson was swept away, and knocked against a post. Dazed, she fell on her knees. The stampede passed over her. Worse was the experience of the woman with the baby It is reported that she was carried oft her feet. With brave devotion she huddled her baby under her. It was some time before she was rescued by a man who fought to got her clear. He struck a young, fear-stricken man a heavy blow on the mouth, bursting his lips, in order to reach the side of the mother and her child. Shivering in the Eain. Incidents of this kind were occurring all over the stand. Finally, those who had fought their way to the ground stood shivering in the pouring rain. They were safe. Shortly afterwards some of them re-entered the stand, and it was asserted by some of those taken to hospital that these men stepped over their prostrate bodies, callously disregarding their plight, to get out of the rain again. Wonderful work was performed by the police, ambulance men, and some of the civilians. The badly injured were lifted from the ruins and carried to the club offices and the ambulances. Torn, dishevelled, bleeding and moaning in pain or crying hysterically, they huddled in groups while the doctors, the police and the ambulance men hurriedly treated them. In the confusion that followed tho crash of the seats many women lost their wallets, purses and handbags. Police who sorted out the casualty list were told of a whole series of such losses, ranging from a few shillings to £l4, Eight of the injured people were admitted to hospital, while 31 received treatment at various hospitals before proceeding to their homes.