A fire at a Dublin hotel claims two lives and destroys the five storey building.
There were over 100 people in the Regent Hotel, D'Olier Street in Dublin when a fire broke out shortly after midnight. It is believed the fire started in a bedroom at the front of the building.
For several hours six units of the Dublin Fire Brigade fought the blaze. The firefighters prevented the flames from spreading to adjoining buildings, but the hotel was completely destroyed. Two bodies were recovered from the building at around 1:30 am.
When the alarm was raised, many people were at a function in the hotel ballroom on the third floor.
A number of them suffered shock and burns but none were seriously hurt.
One man was rescued from a ledge by passersby. Firemen using turntable ladders rescued five people from burning rooms. Three firemen were injured. One of them after a stairway and part of a ceiling collapsed while he was fighting the blaze inside the building.
All have since been discharged from hospital.
In the aftermath of the fire, An Garda Síochána forensics are sifting through the debris for clues as to the cause.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 12 October 1974. The reporter is Derek Davis.
