An inquest into the Stardust fire heard evidence from former firefighters, who spoke of finding bodies in the nightclub so badly burnt they could not tell whether they were male or female.
At the inquest on Thursday, accounts were also heard of some corpses being discovered “in bits” within the “completely gutted” building.
Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane told the Dublin District Coroner’s Court jury that these were “difficult details” to hear for the families of the 48 people who lost their lives when the fire consumed the nightclub in Artane in the early hours of Valentine’s Day, 1981.
First to give evidence on Thursday was Noel Keegan, who, in his original statement that was read into the record by the court registrar, said that he went into the building through exit five and heard someone shout, “There are bodies in here.”
He said he saw six to eight bodies piled on top of each other in the toilets, and they did not appear burnt but blackened.
“I found another body outside the same toilets, and this body was burnt to a cinder... We took one body from inside exit six, and this body was still on fire,” he said, adding that another firefighter found an arm and a leg on the stage.
Mr Keegan said that 15 minutes after his arrival, the fire was under control, and the interior of the building was “completely gutted”.
In a second statement, Mr Keegan said that the one dead body he clearly remembered was the one near the toilets because he and his colleagues appeared to have walked over it.
“It was burnt beyond recognition and the intestines were showing,” he said.
Difficult details
After the reading of his original statements, Dr Cullinane said that there were a lot of difficult details there for the families to hear.
In response to questioning by Des Fahy KC, representing a number of the families of the victims, Mr Keegan said that the bodies in the toilets were “piled very high on top of each other”.
The jury next heard evidence from firefighter John Lehane. In his original statement, he said that when he was inside the building, he saw one door with a chain hanging off it with a padlock “in a locked position”.
He also said that he saw a row of 16 bodies lined up outside.
Mr Lehane told Mr Fahy that he agreed with the description given by fellow firefighter William McQuaid that the blaze was “an accelerated fire”.
“There was severe burning from the different objects. Where the row of bodies were, there were exits, what appeared to me to be major exits approximately five feet wide. What happened that delayed their exit from the building, it would certainly be my interpretation that there must have been a rapid fire spread,” he said.
Mr Fahy asked him if the fact that the ceiling and roof collapsed was also evidence of an accelerated fire, to which Mr Lehane replied that it might be an indication of the temperature of the fire. Mr Fahy noted that Mr Lehane had said he counted 16 bodies in the vicinity of two or three exit doors.
“Is the number of casualties that were recovered and placed in close proximity to those exits, is that, based on your experience, an indication that something did not work in relation to those exits as it should have done?” asked Mr Fahy.
“It would be suspect,” replied Mr Lehane.
The jury also heard the evidence of Garda Matthew Quinn, who, in his original statement, said that he drove six people to the Mater Hospital in his patrol car, making two trips.
He told Bernard Condon SC, representing a number of the families, that when he arrived at the Stardust, “the whole sky was lit up red or orange”.
He confirmed that he first transported three injured people to the Mater by putting one in the front seat and two in the back seat, and he went to put a third person in the back, but could not as the injured could not touch one another.
“The blisters that were on their arms were massive, some of them had burst and the skin had fallen down over the fingers, like you’d peel a banana. It was terrible,” he said.
He said that after he brought them to hospital, he returned to the Stardust and brought three more people to The Mater, all of whom had similar injuries.
'Burnt to a cinder'
The jury heard the evidence of a number of firefighters who were not available at the inquest, so their statements were read out by members of the coroner’s legal team.
Frank Matthews, a firefighter with 17 years’ experience, said that he quenched pockets of fire, two of which he later found out were bodies on fire.
“They were dead and completely unrecognisable. They were burnt to a cinder. It took me a few seconds to realise they were bodies,” he said.
“I also found another dead body with a bare skull on the floor... I assisted other firemen with five dead bodies for removal. There were three of them on top of each other on the stage and two more in the dancing area in front of the stage. They were all burnt beyond recognition; I could not tell if they were male or female,” he said.
James Rowan gave evidence that he saw a number of injured people lying on the floor, all of whom were unconscious.
“I can't remember how many bodies I saw but there were quite a few... All of these bodies were badly burnt and completely beyond recognition. Some of the bodies were in bits,” he said.
Paul Shannon said that the first body he removed from the premises was located in the dance area. It was the body of a male aged around 18, and the trousers were burnt off, but the body was not badly burnt. He said there were between 20 and 30 corpses in various degrees of burn damage.
“I found the limbs of a body. I cannot say whether it was male or female... I found another lower limb outside the door of the toilet adjacent to exit number five,” said Mr Shannon.
James McDonnell said he discovered two legs that were very badly burnt, and he later discovered an arm and two hands by the entrance to the toilets. And Brian Flood said that he assisted in removing three dead bodies from the stage area, and they were all so badly burnt that it was not possible to say if they were male or female.
“Two bodies were stuck together. One was very small. These were also so badly damaged that it would be impossible to say from superficial examination whether they were male or female,” Mr Flood said.
The inquest continues on Friday in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital.
