ISTANBUL, Dec 15 (AFP) - Ten people remained under hospital treatment for smoke inhalation Wednesday following a spectacular fire that broke out during the premiere of a horror film in one of Istanbul's cinemas, health officials said.
None of them was seriously injured, they added.
A total of 164 people were treated after the fire, which broke out Tuesday night at a movie complex in an Istanbul shopping mall, they said.
Contrary to an earlier report from police, however, hospital officials said nobody was seriously hurt, and the 10 remaining patients were expected to be allowed to go home during the day.
The fire broke out when candles set fire to special items of decor set up for the gala showing of a Turkish horror film called "Buyu" (The Spell) at a cinema in Sisli, on the European side of the city.
A number of Turkish celebrities were at the screening, and the fire caused scenes of chaos.
Media reports on Wednesday praised the prompt action of firefighters, saying they had averted a much worse catastrophe.
"What could have been a major disaster was averted with little damage," Mustafa Sarigul, the mayor of Istanbul's Sisli district, where the cinema is located, told the Sky-Turk news channel late on Tuesday.
The smoke spread to the theaters and live television footage from the scene showed scenes of panic, with scores of people, including many local celebrities and show business people, running or being carried out, their faces blackened with soot.
Some, visibly terrorized by the ordeal, were in tears, while others angrily blamed the cinema owners for the incident.
Witnesses said officials asked the audience to leave shortly after the film began, but many thought it was all a joke related to the horror movie.
"I was watching the film with a friend and 10 minutes later we were asked to get out," 25-year-old Hale Kaplanoz told AFP.
Another witness said the cinema's fire alarm kicked in shortly after the fire broke out and water from the sprinklers led to a power cut.
"People were left in the dark and there was a lot of panic," said Ali Akbaba.
Television footage from inside the mall at the time of the fire showed people trying to find their way in the dark and shouting at each other for directions under a heavy pall of smoke.
Sarigul said officials would launch an investigation into the incident, which he blamed on "carelessness and negligence."
"The candles should have been placed elsewhere," Sarigul said.
12/15/2004 11:50 GMT - AFP