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Show 11 KILLED, 50 INJURED : IN COLLAPSE OF CHURCH NEW YORK Feb. 28. Eleven persons were killed and mors than fifty Injured, some probably fatally, by the collapse-of ths decayed supports of the flooring- of the Fleet Street African Methodist Episcopal Epis-copal church, in Brooklyn, last night. Of those killed, eight were women, two men and one child. Death in nearly every case resulted from suffocation. ' The building was an ancient. - ramshackle ram-shackle frame structure. erected sixty years ago. In the heart of. the colored section of Brooklyn, on Fleet street near Myrtle avenue. It was considered unsafe several years ago. . . . . . ; : : I Arrangements had been made last night to hold funeral services for Sidney Tain ter, one of the oldest members of the church, and the auditorium, which is on the second floor of the building, the ground floor being used by the Sunday-school, Sunday-school, was crowded with an audience of more than 300 persons, of whom the majority ma-jority were women. The congregation was waiting in alienee al-ienee for the arrival of the body, and Pastor Pas-tor Jacobs was standing at the altar awaiting the summons to meet the funeral fu-neral procession at the door, when a splintering of timbers was heard, and In an Instant the half of the auditorium nearest the door collapsed, carrying down more than a hundred persons, who were crushed 1a the wreckage, of the flooring and pews. ' A great volume of dut for a few moments mo-ments hid from view the victims. The remainder of the audience, finding themselves them-selves cut off from the door and expecting expect-ing every instant that the rest . of the flooring would collapse under them, fought madly to reach the windows, and In soms Instances leaped from them and sustained serious injuries. On the arrival ef the police and firemen the work of rescue began. Those remaining remain-ing uninjured on the portion of the floor remaining intact were taken from the windows by ladders. Those lying in the mase of wreckage on the lower floor could only be reached ' after the firemen had hewed their way to them with axes. Out of the wreck eleven bodies were recovered and taken to a station-house, and about thirty removed to the Brook, lyn hospital, where three women died soon after being admitted. All the ambulances in Brooklyn were called out, and about a score of those hurt were able to go home after their injuries had been attended at-tended to. "... Heartrending scenes were witnessed In the station-house, which was thronged with relatives and friends who cam to identify the dead. |