Theatre Royal disaster

On 19 February 1849, a crowd crush 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.