FIRE IN BERLIN

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19659, 20 August 1935, Page 7

FIRE IN BERLIN

RADIO HALLS BURNED, CROWD’S NARROW ESCAPE. A.;-. - — 1 TRAPPED ON A STAIRCASE. United Press Assn. —Elec. Tel. Copyright (Received Aug. 20, 1.30 p.m.) BERLIN, August 19A disastrous lire broke out at 10.30 at night in ono of the great wooden L buildings lionising the Radio Exhibition, and rapidly spread to the other halls, destroying all within an hour. Tim Are is believed to have originated in the television section, destroying many valuable instruments. The flames spread so quickly that a number of people who were dining on tho platform of a restaurant 200 feet up the gigantic radio tower, which provided a famous panorama of Berlin, were trapped. . Guests and waiters were seen trying to descend the staircase when the lifts were destroyed, and were driven back by flames, smoke and red-hot steel. The hall in which the fire broke out is believed to have been empty. Thousands quickly escaped from the other hallsThirty thousand people visited til* exhibition earlier ill the day.

DAMAGE £SOO,OOOEIGHT MEN SLIGHTLY BURNED, HALLS REDUCED TO RUINS. flnlted Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright (Received Aug. 20, 2.0 p.m-) BERLIN, August 19. Though the lire broke out half-an-liour after closing the main hall, many people were still within the adjacent halls. Police and firemen flung open the doors and hastened everyone to safety. The flames were leaping 150 feet high a few seconds later. Firemen, using slings and rope ladders, rescued those entrapped In the' tower, giving precedence to womenThe last eight men rescued were slightly burned. Hundreds of police and Storm Troopers restrained the huge crowd of anxious watchers. Dr. Goebbels helped to direct operations. Three of the seven halls were reduced to ruins. The damage is estimated at £500,000Herr Hitler was informed of the lira. An inquiry was ordered-