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CNN Live Saturday

Woman Killed in Storm at Pennsylvania Amusement Park

Aired June 01, 2002 - 12:28   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Severe weather has ravaged a Pennsylvania amusement park, killing a woman and injuring dozens more, most of them children. For the latest on the storm damage we go to Amy Marcinkiewicz of CNN affiliate WPXI in Pittsburgh.

AMY MARCINKIEWICZ, WPXI: This amusement park just 10 miles south of downtown Pittsburgh will not open today because of last night's storm, a storm that blew through here and killed one woman. You can see behind me that the police tape is up.

You can see the steeple right there, and underneath it is the roof that collapsed on the people that were inside that ride. We can tell you that when those rains came through, they were heavy and this part of the park, that pavilion, really was the only shelter that they could seek, so people, and there were thousands of people inside the amusement park Friday night, those people ran, seeking shelter from the heavy rains, and those wind gusts, 80 mile-per-hour wind gusts, we are told, came through and just really ripped that roof off of its foundation, and, we are told, threw it 20 feet.

One woman, a 30-year-old single woman, was killed. Forty-seven other people were injured. A lot of those injured were children, ranging in the ages from ages from nine to 14 years old. The good news, though, that their injuries are not life-threatening, but we can tell you the damage is severe inside this amusement park, called Kennywood Park. It is severe and there will be no children inside today. There will be no patrons whatsoever, no rides going. The only people that will be inside will be emergency crews and workers. They will be using chain saws, trying to clean up this debris and move on.

Reporting from Pittsburgh, Amy Marcinkiewicz, back to you.

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