Denmark Place arson: Full list of the 37 victims

They represent a cross-section of London life cut short in a deadly fire

Simon Usborne
Tuesday 25 August 2015 15:08 BST
37 people died in an arson attack on two nightclubs in central London in 1980
37 people died in an arson attack on two nightclubs in central London in 1980

The list below, published here for the first time, reveals the names of the 37 people who died in an arson attack on two nightclubs in central London in 1980. They represent a cross-section of London life, cut short in what remains London’s deadliest postwar fire.

The most remarkable thing about researching the story of these forgotten murders, also published today, is that, 35 years later, even many of the families of the victims know little about what happened.

I spoke to Reg Coward, who only learned a few years ago that his cousin, Diana Coward, had died alongside 36 other people. Alex Reinhard, the son of a Colombian victim, Alejandro Vargas, thinks that he will never know exactly what happened to his father.

Mass murder site: No 18 Denmark Place after the fire

John Thompson was charged for just one murder, that of Archibald Campbell, who was 63. Few other names were mentioned in the coverage of the fire. Matt Rendell, a writer who spent years trying to find out more about it, managed to acquire this list.

There may be spelling errors below. Please contact me, at s.usborne@independent.co.uk if you have any questions. And do read the full story, and my attempt to ask the question: why was the Denmark Place fire forgotten?


AGUIRE Sylvia

BARRIOS Alvaro

BOUGH Pamela

BULATI Beiddredin

CAMPBELL Archibald

CARROLL Leonard

COWARD Diana

DCEDARAN Clancy

DICK Maria

DOLAN Peter Alan

FIORILO Paul

FRANCO Jose

GOREY Carol

GUMIEL Maria

GUMIEL Theresa

HENAGHAN Denise

ISHERWOOD Christina

LONDONO Luz Mary

McDERMOT Avril

McILVANEY Diana

MUNOZ Gloria

MURRAY Anita

NAVARO Antonio

NORTON Bridget

ORTEGON-GARCES Julian

PUTAHU Segg

RAMSEY William

REID Alexander

SAGASTA-JULDAIN Juan Antonio

SMITH Edgar

SOTO Carlos Alberto

STIRTON Robert

TAYLOR-HARDING Eustace Ralph

VARGAS Alejandro

VARGAS Hernan

VARGAS-CORRALES Beatrice

YULE Frederick

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