Page:Account of the dreadful accident and great loss of lives which occurred at Kirkcaldy, on Sunday the 15th June, 1828.pdf/5

5 manner about 500 persons exposed to the immediate consequences of the accident. Those who were in these galleries escaped generally with bruises and contusions more or less severe; and of those who were under them, only three persons, Mrs Beveridge and two others, as far as we can learn, actually lost their lives by the fall of the joists above them. The former was killed on the spot, while two blind boys, her twin sons, who were seated beside her, escaped unhurt. It was stated that she was in the act of leaning forward when one of the joists fell, and rested on her neck, which was pressed on the other side against the top of a pew.

The casualties would in this manner have been comparatively few, if the rest of the congregation had retained sufficient presence of mind to have remained for a little time in their seats. But this in a mixed multitude of men, women, and children, having along with them, in many cases, their nearest relatives, for whom they were even more anxious than for themselves, was hardly to be expected; and, accordingly, as soon as the crash took place, they rushed, as we have already noticed, in the wildest consternation to the doors, and through the windows, and many were suffocated or trampled to death, particularly at the bottom of the gallery stairs, and in the vestibule, where there was a pressure from three opposite points, namely, the two gallery stairs, and the body of the church. The perils of this dreadful struggle for life were perhaps increased by another circumstance, which