asdvek
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2024
- Posts
- 80,487
- Reputation
- 128,360
TIL that in the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, 492 people lost their lives because the doors opened inwards. This prompted the regulation that all doors in a public building must open outwards.
When in a panic, crowds tend to rush and push towards exits in one large group. If the doors open inward, as people rush the exit those in front can't open the door and the crowds in the back just keep pressing forward - the doors effectively get stuck shut. Leading to bodies piling up, crushing those in front to death, leaving those in back to suffocate or burn.
When in a panic, crowds tend to rush and push towards exits in one large group. If the doors open inward, as people rush the exit those in front can't open the door and the crowds in the back just keep pressing forward - the doors effectively get stuck shut. Leading to bodies piling up, crushing those in front to death, leaving those in back to suffocate or burn.
