Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1909-02-23
300 ROASTED ALIVE
IN MEXICAN THEATER
Moving Picture Film Sets Fire to
Crowded Playhouse at Acapulco
and Panic Ensues.
C0RPsEs BLOCK ALL THE EXITS.
Whole Families Blotted Out by Dis
aster Which overtakes City Dur
ing a Gala Performance.

Three hundred people were burned
to death and many were injured in a
fire which destroyed the Flores Thea
ter in the City of Acapulco, Mexico,
Sunday night The news of the dis,,s-
ter reached the city of Mexico Monday
afternoon telegraphic communication
with Acapulco having been destroyed
owing to the fact that the telegraph
Office adjoining the theater was burned
and all wires put on. of commission.
1t is known that several Americans
were among the victims
The Flores Theater was a wooden
structure. and Sunday night over 1000
people crowded into it to witness Il
special performance given in honor of
Governor Damian Flores of the State
of Guerrero, who was visiting the city
at the time. One of the numbers on
the program consisted of a series of
moving pictures. While the operator
vas exhibiting these a film caught fire
and blaze was quickly communicated
to some bunting which had been used
for decorative purposes
Corpses Choke Way.
In In incredibly short time the
flames spread to all parts of the struc
ture There were but three narrow ex-
its and the panic-stricken audience
rushed to them, many persons failing
to be crushed to death, their bodies
choking the way to escape for others
The screams of those imprisoned
were terrifying. Owing to the rapid
ity with which the fire spread and its
intense heat it was impossible to at
tempt rescue work, and those impris
oned were literally roasted alive, as
the fire burned with little smoke and
few were suffocated
The efforts of the fire department
were confined TO attempting to save the
adjoining buildings, and the firemen
succeeded so we'll that the property loss
was small. The telegraph office, post
office and custom house were damaged
but all Of the governments records and
the registered mail were saved
Monday pitiful scenes of grief We're
witnessed on the streets of the city
Men, women and children were wan
dering from place to place, hunting for
relatives and friends. Many of the
dead were from the first families of
the State, the affair at the theater
being social event of considerable
Importance and calling out the wealth
lest and oldest families for miles
around. In some instances whole fam
lilies We're wiped out of existence.
The municipal authorities have
caused large trenches to be dug and
into these the bodies of the dead were
laid. Identification of the dead has
been impossible, the bodies having
been burned in most cases to a crisp.
City Important Port.
Acapulco is an important seaport on
bay of the Pacific Ocean about 200
miles southwest of the capital. 1t has
one of the best harbors on the Pacific
coast, which has made it an important
commercial center, though 1t has few
local Industries, and its population is
only about 5000 or 10000. On ac-
count of the heat and the eff1uvia from
a large morass to the east the climate
of the town is very unhealthy for Eu-
ropeans, though passage cut through
the rocks to let in the sea breeze has
tended to improve It's salubrity.