The Stardust inquests have heard how a then 15-year-old girl who was in the nightclub when the fire broke out thought she was going to die.
Giving evidence today, 42 years on from the 1981 disaster in which 48 people lost their lives, June Tighe said everyone there, including herself, was fighting for their lives as they tried to get out.
She told the Dublin District Coroner's Court that she had been in the club "loads of times", and said she did not have any difficulty getting in on the night of the fire and was not asked for I.D.
She told the court that she was dancing and had turned around when she saw the fire coming across the ceiling.
She described how she, along with her friend, then went to the cloakroom in the main lobby to collect their coats.
The court heard how seconds later, everyone was screaming. "Everything happened so quick," she said.
Ms Tighe described how she was pushed into the cash office off the main lobby.
"Everyone was screaming. We were fighting for our lives, I was fighting for my life," she said today.
She ended up back in the main passageway which led to the main entrance.
She said: "All I know was, it was dark and smoky and people were screaming.
"We were all in the area screaming…I remember shouting open the door."
The court also heard how she fell on the floor and people were walking on her, "I was on the ground, I was on people’s shoulders, I was trying to survive", she said.
She said people were pushing on the door, hoping it would open.
The court heard how she did end up making it out the door and described the relief, "all I remember is was we got air...just air".
Before Ms Tighe gave evidence today, the coroner Dr Myra Cullinane, acknowledged that it was "very hard to bring those memories back to mind".
'There was panic, we were in darkness'
Harriet Kearney, who was 16 at the time, told the court about the panic in the darkness.
She was on the dancefloor when she noticed a "commotion" and heard mention of a fire. She returned to her table to alert her friends.
She told the court how she tried to make her way to the main entrance because that was the only exit she knew but that she ended up being pushed towards exit number three.
She said: "There was panic, we were in darkness…you couldn’t see a hand in front of you."
Ms Kearney said when the lights went out, "all you were breathing in, was black smoke".
Asked how long elapsed between first seeing the commotion to making it out, she said, "I honestly don’t know, it felt like a lifetime. It was complete darkness, we had nothing to guide us".
She also told the court when she got into the passageway leading to exit three, there were people "kicking and banging" the doors.
"It’s like we were stuck," she said. She said eventually the door opened, and "you could feel the fresh air…up until that you couldn’t breathe because of the smoke."
'You were no match for the welded plates'
The inquests also heard today from Trevor King who was in the Stardust on the night of the fire and who had previously worked in the club 18 months previously.
He was 17 at the time of the fire.
The court heard how he went out Exit number 3, saying today that "not a lot of people knew the exit was there".
He agreed with counsel for the families that he knew about it because he had previously worked in the club.
He described the fire as "fairly big'" when he first saw it and said the smoke was black, "with a very acrid smell off it".
He told the court he could hear people kicking at the doors of the exit to get out and was asked how long it went on for: "I don’t know, it seemed like a life’s span at the time … there was a crush starting to build up," he said.
He also described the efforts, including his own, of trying to help those in the toilets when he made it outside.
The inquests have previously heard how steel plates were fixed to the windows of the toilets in the weeks leading up to the fire. He told the court of the screaming inside.
The court heard how people were hanging from and pulling at the steel panels from the outside.
"You were no match for the welded plates," Michael O Higgins SC, put it to him.
"Not a hope," he replied. He described the efforts as "futile".
He also told the court that while he was working at the club the fire exit doors would be locked during cabaret nights.
The inquests have previously heard testimony that the doors were only kept locked for a time on disco nights and that this practice was brought in around 3 weeks before the fire.
But under questioning today from Des Fahy, KC, who is representing families of the victims, he said he was "100%" clear that they were locked and chained during cabaret nights in the 18 months to two years before the deadly blaze.
'That man saved my life'
Martina Doyle, who was 16 years old at the time of the fire, also gave evidence today.
She spoke of being terrified, disorientated in the complete darkness. She said her main objective was to "just keep breathing".
She spoke of a man called 'Bobby' who eventually led her to safety out Exit number 3.
"That man saved my life," she said today. "He brought me home, and I never saw him again."
