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On Tuesday this week, Chicago-based Kill Hannah had a nasty wake up call – their tour manager shouting that the tour bus was on fire (Photo's Below). Scrambling out half-dressed, all of Kill Hannah and their British support band My Passion managed to escape without serious injury, although all possessions inside the bus were lost. Despite regretfully having to cancel 2 shows in France and Belgium, Kill Hannah were determined to save as many dates as they could and all UK shows will go ahead. The second leg of the band’s UK tour starts tonight in Stoke-on-Trent.

Wanting to reassure fans they were okay, Kill Hannah’s frontman Mat Devine posted the following message and the attached photos on their official MySpace page shortly afterwards:

“It was a view from a postcard that turned into a nightmare. This morning at 9am driving on our tour bus from a show in Bologna, Italy to Paris, France we woke up somewhere in the Swiss Alps to the smell of toxic smoke and the serious tone of our tour manager shouting three words you never want to hear: “Bus On Fire.” Within seconds all band members (including our support act My Passion), crew and guests were standing shirtless and shoeless on the side of the winding road as the entire 2-floor 45ft bus was fully engulfed in flames. Windows began bursting from the heat and there were several large explosions. It took Swiss firefighters less than 15 minutes to respond to the blaze, but by that time the bus and virtually all of our possessions were lost: luggage, clothes, passports, wallets, laptops, shoes, phones, and countless irreplaceable sentimental items, including many gifts given to us by fans as we’ve crisscrossed the UK and Europe over the last month on tour.

We stood, surrounded by scenic snowcapped mountains, watching the scene in disbelief, comforting one another as the blaze was battled. After two hours we were permitted to return to the blackened shell of the bus in a vain attempt to retrieve anything that may have survived. Finally, we were taken by charter to the Swiss village of Airolo where I write you now from a tiny hotel.

Fortunately, aside from smoke inhalation and shock, everyone is fine, as is our trailer of gear and merchandise. Half of us are without shoes, and although we all smell like noxious smoke and chemicals, we are all warm in our own band’s hoodies and t-shirts. The hotel has a bar and an accordion, so we will try to keep spirits high while we await our replacement bus from Manchester, England.

The official cause of the fire will remain unknown until after tomorrow’s investigation, but it appears to have started underneath the bus as it was driving. We are very sorry to have to cancel both our Paris and Belgian dates, but we expect to be in Stoke On Trent in time for Thursday’s show.

We want to thank the KH fans, our friends, our crew, our management, The Hotel Des Alps, the staff at Restorante Cristallina, and all the Swiss Emergency personnel for helping us through this traumatic day.”

Kill Hannah’s UK shows are as follows:

Fri 24th Oct – Stoke Sugarmill
Sat 25th Oct – Dublin Whelans
Sun 26th Oct – Belfast Limelight
Mon 27th Oct – Glasgow Garage
Tue 28th Oct – Northampton Roadmenders
Wed 29th Oct – London LA2
Thu 30th Oct – Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
Fri 31st Oct – Manchester Academy 2
Sat 1st Nov – Birmingham Academy 2