FIRE AT CHARING CROSS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20106, 13 May 1935, Page 7

FIRE AT CHARING CROSS

HOLD UP OF LONDON TRAFFIC ORDERLINESS OF CROWD PREVENTS DISASTER United Press Association— By Electric Tel egraph —Copy rl gh t (Received May 12, 7.30 p.m.) LONDON, May 11. A fire at Charing Cross railway station before midnight, complicated the journey home, after £he Jubilee celebrations, of what most reliable experts declare to be the biggest crowd of sightseers that London has ever known. One of the main electric cables on the bridge leading from the station across the Thames fused, setting fire to 100 ft of woodwork under the bridge, which burned fiercely. The current across the bridge was switched off, and consequently the electric trains were brought to a standstill. Steam trains were unable to move owing to hoses across the line. Firemen also fought the flames from a firefloat on the river. In the meantime, the station became jammed by the crowd. Officials using loud speakers told the thousands that it was no use waiting, but to go quickly to Cannon Street and London Bridge stations, where the trains were running. The crowd rushing from the station met the crowd seeking to enter, resulting in many being crushed. Women burst into tears. People then rushed the three underground stations nearby in the Strand, at Charing Cross and at the Temple and found that these already had had to be closed.

Thousands started to tramp miles home and others, faced with longer journeys, filled the seats or sat on the pavements of the Embankment, and prepared to fpend the night. Experts agree that only the good humour of the crowd averted a terrible disaster and loss of life in the crush before Buckingham Palace, where their Majesties again appeared on the balcony, and in and around Charing Cross. Trafalgar Square, after midnight, bore the appearance of a vast, open air dance resort, thousands of people dancing and singing.