Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee were killed tonight during [?] 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 [?] time
Or at T-10 minutes to the planned, simulated liftoff
The spacecraft was atop the centre launch vehicle 118 feet above the launchpad
The hatches on the spacecraft had been closed
Emergency crews were hampered by deathly smoke in removing the hatches
And an unknown number of launch crew were treated for smoke in halation
At the Cape Kennedy Dispensary
The crew had entered the spacecraft at 2 o’clock this afternoon
Minor difficulty had encountered during the countdown
The difficulty was the Environmental Control System
And the Communication System
All recorded data has been compounded and investigations into the accident have claimed the lives of Grissom, White and Chaffee