CATASTROPHE IN PRAGUE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20536, 11 October 1928, Page 9

CATASTROPHE IN PRAGUE

BIG BUILDING COLLAPSES. EIGHTY PEOPLE MISSING. TWELVE BODIES RECOVERED. (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) PRAGUE, October 9. (Received Oct., 10, at 5.5 p.m.) An iron and concrete building of seven storeys which was being constructed in one of the most frequented thoroughfares collapsed during the afternoon. Out of 87 workmen engaged on the building 60 are still missing. Twenty people who ■were passing at the time are also missing, and they are believed to be beneath the ruins. So far 12 dead and 10 seriously injured have been recovered from the debris. Two thousand soldiers, in addition to the whole fire brigade, are feverishly working to reach those imprisoned in the building'. The cries of the injured can be heard continuously. The missing include the architect of the building, which was on the point of completion. The head and the limbs were found of a woman who was wheeling a perambulator when the building collapsed, but tl ere are no signs of the baby. The President closed the Senate when the news was made known. The Mayor has ordered that all new buildings in Prague be inspected within 24 hours.— Australian Press Association. GIRL’S TERRIBLE DEATH. CRUSHED BENEATH PILLAR. PRAGUE, October 10. (Received Oct. 11, at 1 a.m.) Rescuers are working on the collapsed building all night with the aid of searchlights. It is feared that the death roll will be heavy. A well-dressed girl was crushed flat on the pavement beneath a massive concrete pillar, every bone being broken. The collapse js attributed to inferior material. The architect committed suicide 1 t