A survivor of the Stardust disaster has described how he and his girlfriend crawled on the floor in complete darkness to get out of the burning building.
Patrick Coates was 18 years old at the time of the fire and was giving evidence at the inquests into the deaths of the 48 people who died in the 1981 nightclub fire.
He described how he saw flames shooting across the ceiling and how he then got his jacket and put it over him and his girlfriend.
He told the inquests how he had a seen a safety programme on the TV some time before and told his girlfriend to crawl on the floor with him.
He recalled how they got to a first exit and that it was locked.
He said that people were kicking it, and saying "It's effing locked, we can’t get out."
Mr Coates said they then crawled further along and felt fresh air coming in through another exit.
Outside, he said, there was pandemonium.
"I was choked with smoke, my hair singed and there were blisters on my nose," he said.
The court heard how he was at the club as part of a work night out with Superquinn colleagues and that he had been in the company of four people who would end up losing their lives - George O’Connor, Martina Keegan, David Norton and Liam Dunne.
The court also heard how a bouncer had told him to say he was born in 1959 or 1960 if anyone inside the club asked for his age.
The inquests had been told how the disco on the night was advertised as an over 21s event.
Earlier in the proceedings, a then teenager who survived the blaze spoke of how she was "terrified" after seeing a lock and chain on a fire exit as she tried to escape.
Pauline Jenkins was 17 years old at the time.
She described how she ran to exit 4 after she saw the fire.
"It was just pandemonium," she said. "Everyone was running everywhere."
When she got to the exit doors, she saw a padlock and chains on them.
"I remember it as clear as anything," she said.
Ms Jenkins said there were people attempting to open it, but they could not.
"They tried everything, it wouldn’t budge," she said.
Asked by Gemma McLoughlin Burke, counsel for the inquests, how long she was at the exit, she said replied that she was not too sure.
"It could’ve been a couple of seconds," she said.
She was asked by Bernard Condon, SC, representing families of the victims, if she was frightened.
"Terrified," she said.
The court heard how she told the gardaí in 1981, "When we got to exit 4, it was in a closed position. It was locked as there was a chain around the bars on the door and there was a padlock on the chain."
She told the court that she then headed for exit 5 but that too was not open.
She described how a group of men were using a bottle container to ram the doors open, which they then did.
She agreed with Mr Condon that a lot of effort was required to get exit 5 open.
Another witness, Noeleen Kearney told the court how she fell into a skip used for empty bottles as she tried to escape and how a man picked her up and helped her to safety.
She was 17 years old at the time.
Ms Kearney told the court how black smoke and chaos quickly spread inside. "It was pandemonium," she said.
She was asked was there any staff in control. "No," she replied.
Later, there was emotional evidence from Tina Brazil who recalled how after she escaped, she went around the building looking for her friend, 18-year-old Carol Bissett, one of the 48 victims.
In court today, Ms Brazil, who was 17 at the time, described how she and Ms Bissett had been holding hands as they headed towards an exit before they got separated.
She said when she got to exit 5, the doors were obstructed and closed and people were trying to open them. They then burst open.
She agreed with Des Fahy, KC, had it not been for the door being obstructed and it being closed, then she and Ms Bissett would have made it out of the building together.
Earlier, she described the smoke as "thick, black, it was like coal", she said. "I'll never forget it."
The inquests also heard from Catherine Moore, who was with Ms Brazil and Ms Bissett on the night and who’s 17th birthday they were celebrating.
She described her difficulties getting out of exit 5.
She said there were people pushing and kicking before the door opened.
Ms Moore said the longer the door did not open, the more the heat could be felt. She told the court how she fell and she heard people screaming, "we’re locked in, we can’t get out".
She said people were "pushing and pushing"’ but there was no movement.
Asked how long she was there before the doors opened, she said he could not say, "it could have been two or ten minutes".
She said fear and adrenaline took over.
She said people were coughing, the flames were coming closer and her thoughts were "is this thing gonna get us?".
A surivor who escaped out of a window and onto the veranda of the building also gave evidence to the inquests today.
Padraig Taaffe spoke of how he was making his way out towards the main exit when the lights went out.
He said it was at that point, the panic set in,
"It was just crazy," he said. "You couldn’t see in front of you face."
He described the smoke as thick and black and the people screaming in the foyer.
He recalled the crush of people and said there was some sort of "blockage" and no sense of movement from those in front.
He said at that stage, he was "suffocating" and the only place he could go was up the stairs.
There, he smashed a window and put his head out to get some air before pulling himself out and dropping onto the veranda below.
