Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee
were killed tonight in a flash fire during tests
of the Apollo Saturn 204 vehicle at Cape Kennedy

The fire occurred while the astronauts
were in the spacecraft during the countdown of a simulated flight test
The accident occurred at 5: 31 Houston time
Or at T-10 minutes prior to the planned, simulated liftoff

The spacecraft was atop the Saturn launch vehicle
some 218 feet above the launchpad
The hatches on the spacecraft had been closed

Emergency crews were hampered by dense smoke in removing the hatches
And an unknown number of launch crew workers
were treated for smoke inhalation
At the Cape Kennedy Dispensary

The crew had entered the spacecraft at 2 o'clock this afternoon
Minor difficulties had been encountered during the countdown
The difficulty was the Environmental Control System
And the Communication System

All recorded data has been impounded pending
an investigation into the accident that claimed
the lives of astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee