On 19 February 1849, a
crowd crush
Crowd collapses and crushes are catastrophic incidents that can occur when a body of people becomes dangerously overcrowded. When a body of people reaches or exceeds the density of , the pressure on each individual can cause the crowd to collapse ...
occurred at the Theatre Royal, Dunlop Street, Glasgow when audience members rushed to escape the building during a fire.
While the fire itself was extinguished quickly, building occupants on the lower floors who observed commotion above them in the upper gallery did not realize this and rushed for exits. Panic led to a crush at the theatre's doorway, where 65 guests were killed and dozens injured.
The Building
Glasgow's Theatre Royal was located on Dunlop Street, in a building owned and leased by John Henry Alexander. There was a standard theatre inside with an upper gallery,
boxes,
orchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...
, and lower gallery. Before the disaster, hundreds of patrons had gathered to watch an evening performance of ''Surrender at Calais.''
Incident
At around 8 o'clock someone in the upper gallery dropped a lighted paper, causing a small flame. "Fire!" was shouted and attention in the theatre quickly focused to the quickly extinguished flame. Members of the cast and audience implored spectators not to panic and to keep their seats.
The victims were largely local residents of the working class neighborhoods surrounding Dunlop Street.
See also
*
Crowd collapses and crushes#Crowd "stampedes"
References
External links
* (1860 map showing the Glasgow's original Theatre Royal building)
{{Coord, 55.8560, N, 4.2518, W, display=title
1849 in Scotland
Human stampedes in the United Kingdom
19th century in Glasgow
Man-made disasters in Scotland