11 SEPTEMBER 1926, Page 3

We greatly regret to record a ghastly catastrophe in the

little Irish village of Drumcollogher, in County Limerick, where at least forty-eight persons were burned to death at a cinema performance. The building was evidently quite unsuitable. It was merely a large loft and had only one small door and a window. It is said that some of the films were exposed on a table and that there was a lighted candle near by. The door was approached by a flimsy staircase, and when the stampede began this collapsed. Cinema performances under such dangerous conditions amount to criminal carelessness.