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CNN Live At Daybreak
Deadly Subway Fire, Families Plead for Help
Aired February 19, 2003 - 06:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to that horrific subway fire in South Korea. At least 120 people are dead and as many as 165 others are missing. Family members are frustrated with a lack of information about their loved ones.
We take you live to the center of this tragedy, and I mean to the center of it. Our Sohn Jie-Ae joins us from inside the subway station.
Show us around -- Sohn Jie-Ae.
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, we are in the subway. This is a three floor subway station. We are on the uppermost floor, but even here, you can see how horrific the situation was.
Now, the floor from the floor to the ceiling is covered with soot. The air is filled with chemicals so great that everyone around me, except me, is wearing one of these masks. There's also the chemical fumes are so great that my eyes are watering, and it's still sort of in the air at the present time.
Now, the hellish situation just adds to the grief of the families here in Daegu. We heard some really heart-wrenching stories today about families who last heard from their loved ones, calling out from their cell phones saying that they are trapped, that they can't breathe. It's just too much to bear for a lot of the families. They've had a day of crying, shock, grief, anger at the authorities about, you know, how the authorities are not able to answer a lot of the questions that the family members had today.
So, it was a day of very high emotions on both ends of the people here in Daegu today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Sohn Jie-Ae, we have similar subway systems here in the United States. Tell us some of the problems that rescue workers had in getting people out.
SOHN: Well, Carol, this is a three -- as I've pointed, this is a three-floor subway system. What one of the authorities pointed out today was that once the flames broke out, the electricity was cut off, and so this spot was all -- it was pitch dark. There was not a single light in all of this. And you have to remember that it was because of the burning flames on the third floor of the basement, it was filled with dark smoke billowing out. And there was no -- a lot of speakers telling people to evacuate. There was no one telling anybody what to do. So, the authorities here were not being able to guide people out to safety -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Sohn Jie-Ae reporting live from inside the subway station at Daegu, South Korea.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired February 19, 2003 - 06:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to that horrific subway fire in South Korea. At least 120 people are dead and as many as 165 others are missing. Family members are frustrated with a lack of information about their loved ones.
We take you live to the center of this tragedy, and I mean to the center of it. Our Sohn Jie-Ae joins us from inside the subway station.
Show us around -- Sohn Jie-Ae.
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, we are in the subway. This is a three floor subway station. We are on the uppermost floor, but even here, you can see how horrific the situation was.
Now, the floor from the floor to the ceiling is covered with soot. The air is filled with chemicals so great that everyone around me, except me, is wearing one of these masks. There's also the chemical fumes are so great that my eyes are watering, and it's still sort of in the air at the present time.
Now, the hellish situation just adds to the grief of the families here in Daegu. We heard some really heart-wrenching stories today about families who last heard from their loved ones, calling out from their cell phones saying that they are trapped, that they can't breathe. It's just too much to bear for a lot of the families. They've had a day of crying, shock, grief, anger at the authorities about, you know, how the authorities are not able to answer a lot of the questions that the family members had today.
So, it was a day of very high emotions on both ends of the people here in Daegu today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Sohn Jie-Ae, we have similar subway systems here in the United States. Tell us some of the problems that rescue workers had in getting people out.
SOHN: Well, Carol, this is a three -- as I've pointed, this is a three-floor subway system. What one of the authorities pointed out today was that once the flames broke out, the electricity was cut off, and so this spot was all -- it was pitch dark. There was not a single light in all of this. And you have to remember that it was because of the burning flames on the third floor of the basement, it was filled with dark smoke billowing out. And there was no -- a lot of speakers telling people to evacuate. There was no one telling anybody what to do. So, the authorities here were not being able to guide people out to safety -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Sohn Jie-Ae reporting live from inside the subway station at Daegu, South Korea.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
