Marseilles, Oct. 29.
Forty-eight persons officially listed as missing, four known to be dead, 22 injured, and an estimated damage of Frs. 30,000,000 are the disastrous results of a fire here yesterday.
Burning embers of the blaze are still being vigorously fought by firemen from all over the province as well as by engineers from the famous Avignon Regiment, The number of dead is expected to reach 100, most of whom were employees of the Nouvelles Galeries, where the fire began. The Hotel de Noailes, Grand Hotel and the Astoria all well-known to tourists, were gutted.
Masonry is impeding movement in the devastated area and the centre of Marseilles will be blocked for several days.
There is severe criticism by the general public and the press at the apparent helplessness of the firemen to subdue the flames and the lack of immediate police ambulance measures. Some brigades had to be sent by train from Lyons, a five-hour journey. The cause of the blaze is still not clear.
Heroic Policeman Among acts of heroism now coming to light was that of a sturdy young policeman who told the panic-stricken girls of Nouvelles Galeries to jump on to him from their windows. He saved four in this way.
A workman, who slung a rope over a beam, attempted to lower himself io the ground. He played seesaw over the blazing debris with another man, who caught hold of the other end of the rope and finally, half suffocated, both fell into the smouldering rusins.
Both were removed to hospital with severe head injuries.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.