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Visitors Swim for Lives in Shark Tank Accident

Aired August 08, 2002 - 14:57   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In New Orleans, several children were among 10 people who had to swim for their lives in a shark-infested tank. They all fell in after a platform collapsed.
We have a report on that from Dawn Ostrom of CNN affiliate WGNO.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN ROONEY, FELL IN SHARK TANK: It just broke. Everybody just fell. I don't really -- I just saw people falling in.

DAWN OSTROM, WGNO REPORTER (voice-over): Erin Rooney has wet clothes and a scrape on her foot from a barnacle that she fell into the tank -- with nurse sharks and sand tiger sharks with her sister, her 5-year-old cousin and 2-year-old niece.

E. ROONEY: I didn't really even think about the sharks. I just wanted to get out of the water.

OSTROM: Her mother and father were watching from dry ground.

DAN ROONEY, ERIN'S DAD: And I was just praying none of the sharks got agitated from all the splashing and everything. They have got sharks in there bigger than me.

OSTROM: The 2-year-old and 5-year-old went to the hospital with a couple of bumps and scrapes. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) official say the visitors and volunteers quickly jumped to the rescue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a serious thing falling into a tank. But thank goodness no one got hurt seriously.

Michael (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and his daughter have home video of the catwalk across the shark tank. They just did the behind the scenes tour Wednesday. The bridge they had walked on collapsed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of frightening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not going over that thing again.

OSTROM: Erin Rooney says fear probably won't hit for now. She has a story to tell her friends.

E. ROONEY: I was swimming with the sharks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That report from Dawn Ostrom of CNN affiliate WGNO.

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