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Tuesday, 2 January, 2001, 12:36 GMT
Blaze victims tell of fight for life
![]() Many have suffered horrific burns
Young people who survived the horrific New Year's Eve blaze in a Dutch cafe have spoken of scenes of panic and terror as people fought for their lives.
Fire ripped through the building, setting light to Christmas decorations which showered onto the terrified revellers.
"Everybody was screaming 'We're going to die! We're going to die!'," said a 14-year-old survivor Esther Tol. "Everything was so black with smoke, you couldn't see a thing."
"I just dived through them and found myself outside. My hand was burnt and my skin was gone," she said. Esther's hair and face were burnt as she fled. One survivor being carried away on the stretcher said: "Panic, panic, everywhere panic."
"The people I saw will be scarred for the rest of their lives. They were maimed and burned. "A woman without an ear and her hair burned off, and a boy without skin on his arms." One mother described her daughter's ordeal in the crush.
One boy wept after hearing confirmation that a friend had died. "I will never, never forget the things I saw," he said. Outside, firemen sprayed groups of terrified partygoers whose clothes were still smouldering. Sparklers One report said the emergency services were so overwhelmed by the number of casualties that local householders had to help, filling their baths and placing victims in the water. The cause of the tragedy is still under investigation, but some attention is being focused on the use of fireworks or sparklers. "It was party time. The barkeepers were handing out sparklers and waving them," said Rosanna van Langen, 16, who escaped unhurt.
Fears continue that more of the injured youngsters will die. "I dare not guess," said the town's Mayor Frank Ijsselmuiden, when he was asked to estimate the final death toll. "I saw disorientated youngsters with fear in their eyes. I watched as one of those youngsters died," he said, calling it a "night of terror".
"The combination of serious burn wounds and damage to the lungs... is almost always lethal. Ten to 15 people are injured very badly (in that way)," a specialist burns doctor told Dutch television. Some of the 18,000 residents of the town say future New Year celebrations will always be blighted by memories of the horror. "The shock in Volendam is boundless. It's unimaginable," said local teacher and councillor Wim Keizer, who knew many of the victims. "Eighteen thousand people are suffering."
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