CINEMA DISASTER.

Wairarapa Age, 17 June 1936, Page 5

CINEMA DISASTER.

WOMEN & CHILDREN KILLED IN INDIA. FIRE SPREADS TO WOODEN BALCONY. EXITS •CUT OFF BY FLAMES. LONDON, June 15. The Bombay correspondent of “The Times” states that at least 20 persons, mostly women and children, were incinerated and many injured in a fire at the Motimahal Cinema, Hyberabad, which originated in the projecting cabin and spread with lightning rapidity to a wooden balcony reserved for women, who rushed to the exits. There they were cut off by flames which were enveloping the staircase. Some leapt to the auditorium, where many were crushed in a panic-stricke* surge to the doors. The balcony collapsed, its occupants being bprned in the debris. The theatre speedily became a roaring furnace, and was completely burnt (pit. •" Fourteen bodies which were recover-ed-were recognisable only by jewellery. - The rescue work was hampered by enormous crowds who were almost driven mad by the screams of the dying.

Relatives of the Nizam later visited the ruins and criticised the inadequacy of protection against fire. They ordered the Police Commissioner henceforth not to permit‘buildings to be used as cinemas unless the escape of the audience is ensured. AN IMPROVISED ESCAPE. FINE PRESENCE OF MIND ’ SHOWN BY WOMAN. (Received Tuesday, 8.5 p.m.) LONDON, June 16. The Daily Herald's ” Madras correspondent says a Hyberabad official’s "rtei by. improvising a fire escape saved many lives. She tore off a gaily coloued sari and tied it to a balcony railing, enabling forty persons, including herself, to slide down to the auditorium, whence they escaped.