European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Up to 400 die As flames sweep by. Supper club panic causes High toll in one of worst blazes Southgate by. Api bodies fused together by tames and stacked three feet High were removed with the help of a giant Crane sunday from beneath the fallen roof of a supper club Complex where up to 400 persons died in one of the worst tires in . midday sunday 170 bodies had been brought out from the ruins of the three Story Brick walled Beverly Hills supper dub which was crowded with thousands of Holiday weekend merry makers when the fire broke out saturday night apparently in the basement. Campbell county Coroner Fred Stine estimated that Between so and 250 bodies still were trapped under the collapsed steel girders that had supported the roof. Stine said 130 persons were hospitalized for treatment of bums and smoke inhalation. He said most of the victims died of suffocation but Many of the bodies trapped inside were badly burned. The building had no sprinkler system. Southgate fire chief Dick Riesenberg said there was no Law requiring one at the time of construction in 1970 and a Law since passed was not retroactive. Property damage was estimated at 2 million. Kentucky gov. Julian Carroll told a news conference at the disaster site sunday morning that he believed the fire started in the basement spread there with out anyone realizing it and then through the floor of one of the dining areas. Carroll said he was directing the investigation so we can my god see that it never happens when the fire first was noticed about 9 p.m., patrons were scattered in dozens of rooms and alcoves at the popular nightspot just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati and near the Indiana state line. Many guests were finishing their dinner and pre paring to walk to the cabaret room for a show by Headliner John Davidson. Estimates of the number of patrons ranged from 3,500 to 5,000.several waitresses in the dining area where flames first were seen tried Hunsuc r continued on Page 28. Col. Ii firemen resuscitate a woman Patron of the Beverly Hills Slipper club after a reviving a victim fire swept the club at Southgate by other photos on Page 3. A photo authorized unofficial publication for the us. Armed forces vol. 36, no. 43 is sunken monday May 30, 1977 if 21855 a Foyt notches fourth 500 win Indianapolis up a. J. Foyt Texas gift to Auto racing sunday mad Speedway history by winning the million Dollar 500-mile classic for a record fourth time minutes after front running Gordon Johncock s machine conked was the Houston flyer s first Triumph Indianapolis up tradition bowed twice at the Indianapolis 500 , track owner Tony Hulman modified his usual command gentle men Start your engines to Janet Guthrie the first lady Ever to qualify a Indianapolis and gentlemen Start your , Kay Bignotti wife of chief Mechanic George Bignotti who has prepared six winning cars in the annual race took the controls to actually Start Guthrie g engine thus becoming the first woman Ever to perform that chore. Finish nobody was close to the heavy footed texan who declared in Victory Lane he would go for a fifth Speedway Triumph next oppressive heat the Mercury was 89 degrees As the race ended it was one of the safest races in the 61-year history of the ancient Speedway. The yellow caution Light flashed on four times but there was Only one crash. 49-year-old Lloyd Ruby escaping injury when his car hit the Wall after the Leader s 35th Lap. Janet Guthric the first woman to drive in the 500, managed Only 27 laps when her car started sputtering 50 Miles into the race. She made Nix pit stops in that time. Actually her chief Mechanic Phil Casey and his assistant. Chuck Looper virtually overhauled the entire ignition in an Effort to fix the car but in the end Nei ther they nor Guthrie could be sure what it was that forced their Bryant Healing and Cooling special out of the m certain everything that possibly could be done was done said the 39-year old i m very disappointed that i did t get to finish but one Swallow does t make a summer and i la be Back next was Given a tremendous ovation by the crowd As she walked Back in her continued on Page 26 Protection of South Korea Carter hints a arms use in this Auto racing Renecca in 10 years also the 58lh major Victory of his amazing 24-year Sneva the record smashing pole Sitter was second and iwo4tme race Champ Al unit was third. But at the Washington up president Carter said in an interview released sunday that South Korea would be protected by . Nuclear might and the implication that it would be used if necessary after the withdrawal of american troops. Related Story Page 4. He also suggested that panamanians might Start sabotaging the Panama canal if the United Stales fails to negotiate a new treaty acceptable to commented on a Range of foreign and Domestic policy issues in an interview in this week s edition of . News and world his commitment to withdraw . Ground troops from Korea Over the next four to five years Carter said South Korea would be protected by its own increasingly Strong forces supported by our own air and naval asked whether the United states also stood ready to use tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea s defense if it were invaded Carter said the first nation to use atomic weapons in any War would face worldwide condemnation. However in areas where nuclear weapons Are deployed in the Western a continued on Page 28, col 2
