Devastating Photos Of The Deadliest Nightclub Disaster In History

Two men carry one of the fire's victims to safety.

On the evening of November 28, 1942, a massive fire broke out in a popular Boston nightclub known as the Cocoanut Grove. That night, 492 people died. Today, the Cocoanut Grove fire remains, by far, the deadliest disaster of its kind in history.

The Cocoanut Grove first opened its doors to the public in 1927. It was initially owned by two orchestra leaders, Mickey Alpert and Jacques Renard, before it passed on to the bootlegger Charles “King” Solomon. After Solomon was gunned down in 1933, the club’s ownership passed to his lawyer, Barnet “Barney” Welansky.

Welansky was a tough businessman who wasn’t going to let even one penny slip away. He hired youngsters for minimum wage and he locked and bricked up emergency exists to prevents his customers from fleeing the premises without paying. Welansky didn’t know it at the time but this latter move would ultimately lead to the deaths of hundreds of people.

Despite Welansky's tough tactics, the Cocoanut Grove was one of the most popular nightclubs in Boston. And for good reason: The club had a restaurant, a dancing area, bars, several lounge areas, a rooftop area for dancing under the stars, floor shows, and piano-playing entertainers. The club resembled a tropical paradise and was often frequented by movie stars.


Dead and injured victims lie on the street outside the club.

But it all came to an end on November 28, 1942. No one knows for certain how the fire started that night.

Some say it was the fault of a 16-year-old busboy named Stanley Tomaszewski. Shortly before the fire started, a young man unscrewed a light bulb in the Melody Lounge downstairs. He needed the cover of darkness to kiss his date in privacy.

Sometime later, Tomaszewski was instructed to screw the light bulb back in and he lit a matchstick to better see the lamp. After the light bulb was screwed back in, Tomaszewski extinguished the match. Immediately afterward, some people saw flames on the fake palm trees just beneath the ceiling.

However, the official investigation ruled out the possibility that the fire was started by Tomaszewski.


Police, firemen, reporters, and the curious gather at the entrance to the Cocoanut Grove.

Whatever its cause, the lethal fire spread rapidly and soon killed hundreds of people. Because Welanksy had boarded up most exit doors, there were few escape routes available. To make matters worse, it is believed that more than 1,000 people were present at the club during the fire even though the club’s official capacity was 460 people.

Hundreds of people tried to exit through the main entrance, a revolving door. However, the panic-stricken crowd jammed the door until it broke and those still stuck inside the club were soon engulfed by flames.

In fact, the fire moved so rapidly that some patrons were found sitting dead right in their seats, still clutching their drinks in their hands. A few people survived by hiding in the walk-in-refrigerator and the ice box.

It has been estimated that access to emergency exits — the ones that Welansky had boarded up — could have saved the lives of hundreds killed during the Cocoanut Grove fire. Welanksy was sentenced to 15 years in prison but was pardoned after serving just four.


A civilian volunteer carries a victim to an ambulance.


Two unidentified victims of the fire lie on the floor.


[Original caption excerpt] Dead, dying and injured lie in street outside Cocoanut Grove while civilians and doctors administer aid. A girl walks in horror through the prone victims, seeking a loved one.


[Original caption excerpt] Here, in a photo taken shortly after the holocaust, firemen, priests and service men stand by the rear entrance to the night club, most of them numbed by the terrible sight of charred and broken bodies being carried through shattered windows and doors.


Police examine the pocketbooks of female victims in an effort to identify the owners. Most such efforts were unsuccessful.


Workers identify victims at the morgue.


Workers identify victims at the morgue.


[Original caption] The hats of servicemen, gaily checked Saturday night at the Cocoanut Grove Night Club, now may be the only identification of their wearers, on that tragic night. They are oiled up at the Boston Police Station awaiting further inspection.


A group of firemen, civilians, and uniformed men stand around a victim of the fire as a priest administers last rites.


Relatives leave a mortuary after identifying the bodies of loved ones taken from the charred ruins of the Cocoanut Grove.


Wards and rooms of Boston Hospital were filled to capacity with victims of the Cocoanut Grove fire.


A crowd outside the mortuary waiting to identify their loved ones.


The exterior of the club after the fire.


The destroyed interior of the club after the fire.


Nurses at work in the aftermath.


Firefighters stand outside the club amid the chaos.


Workers carry a victim into an ambulance.