Jaromir Baron von Mundy—Founder of the Vienna ambulance service

Abstract

evening. The fire was caused by a gas lamp hanging over the stage. While the singers were able to escape to safety through the stage exit, the audience was engulfed in deadly chaos. When the theatre lights went out, the chaos grew even worse, and the panic-stricken audience was trapped in the pitch-dark theatre, groping frantically for the exit. The main theatre exit, however, was constructed to open towards the inside only. Therefore, the first ones to reach the entrance could not open the doors against the giant crowd of people pressing forward behind them. Many fell and were trampled to death or suffocated [1]. As a result, those fleeing from the fire were unable to get outside to save themselves and the firemen were unable to overcome the wedge of trampled corpses and get inside the burning theatre. Some of those trapped inside hurried out to the balcony, desperately crying for help, or jumped down in panic to the Vienna Ringstrasse, the street below, to escape. The raging fire, however, had already reached the Ringstrasse. Most of those who jumped were either killed or severely injured. Those who remained in the theatre were soon completely surrounded by flames, without even a slim chance of survival (Fig. 2).