Worst Story of Horror In Europe for Years.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18575, 25 September 1928, Page 1

Worst Story of Horror In Europe for Years.

MADRID THEATRE FIRE WAS DUE TO SHORT-CIRCUITING OF ONE LAMP. (United Press Association. —Bj Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) (Received September 25, 10.40 a.m.) LONDON, September 2L rIS THOUGHT DOUBTFUL if the Madrid theatre fire death roll will reach the first staggering estimate. As a story of horror it is the worst in Europe for years. The disaster was all due to the short-circuiting of one lamp amid the scenery. Two minutes later the stage was an inferno, belching black smoke into the auditorium, where the audience, fortunately only one-third of the theatre’s capacity, sat momentarily benumbed. Then there was a wild panic. They jumped from the galleries, jammed the exits and fought with frenzy, the weaker going down instantly. Many were suffocated before they were overtaken by the flames. The first rescuers entered the main door, where a pile of bodies was incinerated, including seven gii-ls and two boys, twenty-five men and twenty-two women, and also seven rescuing policemen. There were horrible discoveries when the dead were reached. Some had revolver wounds, suggesting that they had committed suicide in prefeience to a more awful death. Others had knife wounds, testifying to the mad struggle for escape.— Australian Press Association. (Earlier messages appear on Page 14.)