Brain Teasers
Coconut Grove
Situation
Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.Situation
This is a true story:
An American nightclub called the Coconut Grove had a terrible fire in which over 400 people died. Everyone was conscious and would have had the ability to get out of the building under normal circumstances, but they couldn't.
Why?
An American nightclub called the Coconut Grove had a terrible fire in which over 400 people died. Everyone was conscious and would have had the ability to get out of the building under normal circumstances, but they couldn't.
Why?
Hint
It has to do with a design flaw in the building. This flaw led to the death toll being so high. Subsequently, regulations were changed to ensure that all public buildings throughout the country eliminated this one detail which proved so deadly.Answer
The doors at the Coconut Grove opened inward. In the mad dash to escape the fire, people were crushed against the doors and couldn't pull them open. After the Coconut Grove disaster in 1942, all public buildings had to have doors which opened outward.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
Wow, I loved this one! Great job using a historical reference in a teaser!
Nov 05, 2002
Great Puzz!
very nice job.
That's devastating, all those poor people died. I think I've had my share of brainteasers for the day; not to say this wasnt an outstanding brainteaser, it's great that you used history in a brainteaser and taught us all something.
Very good. I usually dont like situation puzzles but this one was good.
never would have guessed it Never good refernce job!! It's so sad that so many died because of other people's greed.
Wow!! I find that very interesting! Poor people. I just can't stand that!
This also happened in the Philippines a few years ago. It is called the ozone disco. Great puzzle! It's a good thing doors that open outward are installed.
Good one! But the last sentence kind of confused me; they either had the ability or they couldn't. Good answer though.
lolx... i just have to laugh at the answer. very nice to have a fact for a teaser
sad if true, but it sounds like an urban legend to me
Wish it was Mogomatt, but we have studied this in history classes, and it has also been featured on shows like modern disasters or other discovery or history channel features. However, still a very brilliant teaser.
Good teaser! Thanks a lot for the hint!
This teaser is nice but sad... unfortunately, this happens in a lot of places due to irresponsibility. Great job on this one
my aunt wrote a book on the cocoanut grove fire, so I knew this one
also, they had a main revolving door that quickly got jammed and emergency exits that were locked.
also, they had a main revolving door that quickly got jammed and emergency exits that were locked.
It's amazing how much this kind of thing happens, and for such sadly preventable reasons... I don't remember what band it was for, but there was a concert where everyone was waiting outside the doors, heard the sounds of the testing, thought the concert had started, and began rushing against the doors, which opened outwards — thus towards them, as they were outside of them — and people were crushed to death.
A great teaser but a very sad answer. Well done in bringing this up. It's important to know about what to look for when you are in a crowded place. From now on I'll look to see if the doors open outwards when I'm in a crowded building!
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