FROM THE ARCHIVES:Thirty years ago this morning, a fire in the Stardust club in Artane, Dublin, took the lives of 48 young people. This was the first account in the morning's paper. - JOE JOYCE
AT LEAST 40 people were dead and many more injured after a fire swept through a northside Dublin club, The Stardust, early this morning.
A Garda spokesman at Coolock Garda station said that stage two of the major disaster plan has been brought into effect and that six of the major Dublin hospitals were now on full alert. Every ambulance and fire brigade available was going to the scene.
A number of people were understood to have been badly burned. Some of the victims taken from the club were unconscious and the garda spokesman said that there was a great deal of confusion.
The finals of a disco dancing competition were taking place and the premises were understood to be fairly crowded at the time. The club has a capacity of between 800 and 1,000. The fire broke out shortly after 1.30am.
Maeve [sic] Ann Wren reported from the scene at 3am: Young people described how the DJ said: “There’s a slight problem, please don’t panic, it’s all under control.”
Frank Brennan (19), from Coolock, said that “then everybody panicked and ran for the main exit. There was only this main exit and fire exit.” He and John O’Brien (19), also from Coolock, were among the many people who were carried out suffering from the effects of smoke.
The black smoke which rapidly resulted from the red leather seats going on fire resulted in most people being overcome. Tina O’Reilly, from Ballymun, described how people were trampled underfoot. All three were convinced that many young people had been burned in the toilet where they were trapped.
All three had seen many young people screaming and trapped by flames in the toilets. Frank Brennan said they were “dead, burned.” He said the only window to the toilet had steel bars and could not be broken. At 3 am the Kilmore Road was closed off except for fire brigades and ambulances . . .
Gardaí tried to clear the hysterical or numbed young people out of the way of the ambulances. Taxi drivers in the city had been alerted to prepare to collect blood.
Casualties were taken to the Mater hospital where a survivor said that the fire was “horrific.” “The blaze started just to the left of the stage, the place went up in five minutes just like a puff of smoke,” she said. “I was getting my coat. That is how I was saved from being burned alive. There was a stampede. People were trampled underfoot.” . . .
Another young male survivor at the Mater hospital said that the hall was packed and there was general panic when the fire broke out. The ceiling went on fire and there was thick black smoke everywhere. “I thought this was it. I made my way out through the crowd. I was lucky I was near the door.” At 3.30am, there were 65 people waiting for treatment.
http://url.ie/92lm