RAZED BY FIRE
OFFICERS' MESS IN JAPAN TWO DEATHS REPORTED TOKIO. May 25. Two British officers were killed in a big fire which razed the officers’ mess of the British Commonwealth air group at Iwakuni, in southern Japan, in the early hours of this morning. Scores of other officers escaped in their dressing gowns and pyjamas, sliding down ropes, and jumping from windows. The blaze jumped the roadway and set alight a hangar, but other ranks, assisted by Japanese fire fighters, fought the flames, which were brought under control before they spread to the main administrative" buildings. No aircraft were damaged. - To-day’s fire is the most serious in the wave of approximately 20 fires, which have swept the BCOF area in recent months. The authorities are seriously concerned over the situation, which is believed due to faulty construction and exposed electric wiring, rather than to sabotage, as was rumoured earlier.
The bodies of two officers have been found in the ashes of the gutted officers’ mess which housed about 150 officers. Most of the officers in the mess lost all they possessed and some were lucky not to lose their lives.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 26471, 27 May 1947, Page 5
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191RAZED BY FIRE Otago Daily Times, Issue 26471, 27 May 1947, Page 5
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