A survivor of the Stardust disaster has described the outbreak of panic as the fire spread through the nightclub.
Paul Byrne was 19-years-old at the time of the blaze, and was giving evidence today at the inquests via video link.
Some 48 people died in the 1981 disaster in Artane, Dublin.
He described the smoke as "thick, black" and said the ceiling was dripping. "It was like hot tar," he said today.
Mr Byrne said the place was pitch black and people were falling over each other. He said he could hear people screaming, "I’m burnt, I’m burnt" and "oh my God, oh my God".
"It was chaos," he said, "the worst experience of my life."
He had been in the company of his friend Brian Hobbs, who died in the fire.
In court today, Mr Byrne described Mr Hobbs, who was 21-years-old, "as one of the nicest, most genuine person you could ever meet".
He said he was a "good, dear friend".
Earlier, he recalled when he first saw the fire it was "quite small" but when the curtain was lifted - which was being used to partition off the west alcove - it "shot out like a ball" up onto the ceiling.
The court heard how Mr Byrne was unsure what exit he got out of.
He said there was a chain and lock on the doors but could not say "for definite" if it was locked.
Mr Byrne said when he first got to it, "that door wouldn’t open".
He also told the court that on previous occasions he had tried to let his friends in the fire exits without paying but that the doors were "always locked with padlocks on them".
