- K (1)6 -
Killed.
Injured.
discharge from the nozzles. Owing to the buffeting of the large waves sweeping over the men, it became necessary for eight men to hold each delivery. Firemen and Police soon collected 15 bodies from the vicinity of the ground floors of the buildings involved. These bodies were, however, swept away later by big waves which also nearly engulfed one of the fire appliances and compelled the withdrawal of the Brigade from the waterfront. Within an hour the fire had spread to involve the whole of the premises 131 to 137, Connaught Road, West, and was seriously threatening the many buildings in rear. The Brigade continued operations from adjoining roof-tops and lanes in rear of the burning buildings, the men working in these lanes being at times nearly submerged by the surging waves from the sea-front. At this stage of the fire Firemen and Police also concentrated on the removal of all persons and as much inflammable material as possible from adjoining buildings to prevent further fatalities and the spread of fire. The fire was out of control from the time of the outbreak until 06.30 hours when the typhoon showed signs of abating. A Brigade call was then circulated, and with the receding of water in the streets it was possible to get two further motor pumps to work at the scene of the fire. The fire was then brought under control after one hour's work with nine deliveries. Only one charred body was recovered from the buildings, but it was reported that a total of 41 persons lost their lives; most of these fatalities were due to drowning when the inmates of the buildings endeavoured to escape down the staircases, the ground floors into which these staircases gave exit, being submerged to a depth of 4-5 feet
41