Just the news.WORLD

World · Canada

Seventy-Seven Children Die in Panic at a Montreal Moving Picture Theater

A small fire on Sunday set off a stampede for the stairs at the Laurier Palace, and officials report 35 injured children recovering.

By the Monochrome Chronicles desk, from reports by Evening Star and New Britain Herald
Edited by Daniel Varrone · Archive edition, written , about events of

Montreal Central Station
Photo: “Montreal Central Station” by Reading Tom from Reading, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; adapted from the original.

Seventy-seven children died in a panic at the Laurier Palace moving picture theater in Montreal’s east end on Sunday, the Associated Press reported on Monday. By morning 68 of the victims had been identified at the city morgue and eight others awaited recognition.

Autopsies established that 60 of the children died of asphyxiation, 11 were crushed and five died from a combination of asphyxiation and burns, according to the New Britain Herald. The paper said the fire itself was trivial. Thirty-five injured children were in city hospitals and were reported recovering.

Mayor Martin issued a message of condolence to the bereaved parents, and the Montreal Theater Managers Association opened a subscription for a relief fund of at least $10,000. The Herald reported that two families lost three children each.

Sources

  1. Evening Star (Washington), Jan. 10, 1927: the toll and the identification at the morgue <https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1927-01-10/ed-1/?sp=1>
  2. New Britain Herald, Jan. 10, 1927: the autopsy findings, the mayor’s message and the relief fund <https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn82014519/1927-01-10/ed-1/?sp=1>

This article was drafted with automated tools from the sources listed, checked by a review pass, and published by Daniel Varrone. Corrections: editor@monochromechronicles.com

← More World · Front page