Hundred and Twenty Women and Children Killed at Meeting Through Collapse of Flooring:
Over Two Hundred Injured More than 120 women and child-yen and a few men are dead as a result of the collapse of a teashop in Chapei_on Saturday afternoon about 2 o'clock. Nearly double that number were injured to a greater or lesser degree. Hospitals Chinese territory were filled to overflow as ambulances brought in the injured persons, Hospitals in the Settlement responded to the emergency and took care of those who were in need. was thrown against them. Timbers: were interlocked seress the property line and on the pavement. Shattered beams and splintered boards and lathing had to be chopped free and dragged away before rescuers could work efficiently. Bodies were intermingled with flooring and joists, Screams of women and girls filled the air. The uninjured crawled out as best possible, while buried under tons of timber were a hundred dead and Between 500 and 800 female workers in the silk filntures—- reports do not coincide as to the number—met in the teashop, which is situated on the Chapei extension, of Kaifeng Road, not more than 100 fect from" the Settlement others fatally injured. Arms and legs protruded from the debris. Others had their limbs severed from their bodies by flying timbers. boundaries, for the purpose of organizing' a union. It is believed that several Communist agitators were present, and one was speaking when the catastrophe took place.
Without any warning the second floor gave way and everyone was thrown to the first floor. The cross beams could not support the added weight and the portion nearest the road gave way and the mass of entangled persons, already thrown, on top of those on the first floor, were catapulted to the ground.
Many of those thrown to the first floor wore dead, but, when all were dropped to the ground, the total was increased ten-fold. Panic ensued. Those on top, fortunate to! be alive, scrambled over the bodies of dead fellow-workers in a desperate attenipt to get clear, All thought that the roof would fall on them, Fortunately both roof and walls stood intact. At least ten male waiters who served customers on the lower floor were killed out-
Bight as the mass of 25 tons, ity fell. They were crushed Seren, "resogalilons Atather ten tons of flooring, joists and cro beams Were the biggest factor in inerensing the death roll, Firat Floor Follows The upper floor, as it gave way, splintered into sections and women fell through the interstices, to be crushed and mangled by the floor, upon which they had been standing, falling down upon them. Those on the first floor had small chance of escaping without fatal injury. Those above were the more fortunate.
Two theories are advanced as to the immediate cause of the collapse, both of which are plausible and credible, The first has it that one) of the women, noticing a thin column of smoke rising from the stove botow, became id and shouted, Fire," Pandemonium reigned at once, and everyone rushed for the stairs, which became congested. The sudden rush of all this weight to one point caused the collapse, it has been stated.
This theory has to some ext deen discarded in the light of the Still others were crushed beyond recognition by the weight of cross beams. The pile of bodies and fragments of wood was between 12 and 15 fect high at the front of the building. To the back, where the first floor still was attached to the wall, the mangled mass dwindled away to nothing.
The Chapel police arrived and drove buck the crowd. Whilst some formed a cordon, others began removing the debris, so as to. get] at the bodies. With the arrival of Vthe Chapei firemen, rescue work Logan in earnest." Parties were organized. Self-appointed leaders dlireeted the zeal of the workers, and slowly those within were dragged and carried out from the Ambulances from the Chinese and Seltlement hospitals were despatched n of the remaining parts of! the floor, The other theory is that the speaker had emphasized a poi favourable to the cause of the women, whereupon they shouted ard clapped. their hands, and, in characteristic manner, jumped wy. and down, Their movement, more or Jess in unison, is believed to have set the floor in vibration to such an extent that crossbeams,—which appear to have been inset into th" wall only a short distance, were pulled out, When one came out the others were pulled loose and tle whole floor dropped.
'The upper floor tore loose with a resounding crash, which wis followed, within less' time than it takes to tell, by the second crash, as the first floor, unable to support the added weight, broke loose in the front. At the corner of North 'Thibet Road and Kaifeng Roads the police constable, hearing the noise, investigated and telephoned at once to West Hongkew police station. Within five minutes, before other aid arrived, officers' were on.the spot willing to do all they could, They were waved away, however, and the Chapet Police, assisted by the Chapei Fire Brigade, bogan the work of rescue.
The Work of Rescue Their task was gruesome. It was dificult, The shop fronts had been forced loosed by the mass, which
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