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CNN Sunday Morning
Who Is Responsible for Deadly Fire at Rhode Island Nightclub?
Aired February 23, 2003 - 11:06 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: We turn our attention now to Rhode Island, where friends and family members today will visit the charred remains of a nightclub where 96 people lost their lives in a horrific fire. But amidst the shock and the sadness there is still one big question, who is responsible? Our Keith Oppenheim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFFREY DERDERIAN, OWNER, STATION NIGHTCLUB: This tragedy has claimed the lives of our friends.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jeffrey Derderian broke into sobs as he spoke. Derderian and his brother Michael are owners of the Station Nightclub, where fire took the lives of so many people Thursday night.
A Rhode Island television news reporter, Derderian said before cameras and colleagues that the club never gave the band Great White permission to use pyrotechnics. His sorrow, Derderian said, the community's loss, was very much his own.
DERDERIAN: Please know I tried as hard as I could. Many people didn't make it out, and that is a horror that will haunt my family and I for the rest of our lives.
OPPENHEIM: Now teams of forensic experts are trying to identify the dead, mainly using dental records.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We're hoping that this pace will accelerate and I hope this can be done in a matter of days and not weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: She was supposed to be the godmother of my kids.
OPPENHEIM: It's a wrenching time for friends and family of potential victims. At the same time, there are lingering questions as to who may be responsible.
OPPENHEIM (on camera): The Rhode Island Attorney General is conducting a criminal investigation, but for now the focus is to determine the identity of the dead, who officials believe range in age from their teens to their late 30s. Keith Oppenheim, CNN, West Warwick, Rhode Island.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Although the club owner says the band Great White did not have permission to use pyrotechnics, an attorney for the band says otherwise.
So far this year, Great White has played dates from Palo Alto, California, to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and we're told no pyrotechnics were used in the shows that you see listed there on the map. The band did use fireworks at Hewitt, Minnesota and Sioux City, Iowa, however, and it's alleged they used pyrotechnics without permission at clubs in Florida and New Jersey.
And, again, authorities are still sorting out the details in this case. There has been no determination on who is at fault just yet but it is, indeed, a criminal investigation.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Nightclub?>
Aired February 23, 2003 - 11:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We turn our attention now to Rhode Island, where friends and family members today will visit the charred remains of a nightclub where 96 people lost their lives in a horrific fire. But amidst the shock and the sadness there is still one big question, who is responsible? Our Keith Oppenheim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFFREY DERDERIAN, OWNER, STATION NIGHTCLUB: This tragedy has claimed the lives of our friends.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jeffrey Derderian broke into sobs as he spoke. Derderian and his brother Michael are owners of the Station Nightclub, where fire took the lives of so many people Thursday night.
A Rhode Island television news reporter, Derderian said before cameras and colleagues that the club never gave the band Great White permission to use pyrotechnics. His sorrow, Derderian said, the community's loss, was very much his own.
DERDERIAN: Please know I tried as hard as I could. Many people didn't make it out, and that is a horror that will haunt my family and I for the rest of our lives.
OPPENHEIM: Now teams of forensic experts are trying to identify the dead, mainly using dental records.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We're hoping that this pace will accelerate and I hope this can be done in a matter of days and not weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: She was supposed to be the godmother of my kids.
OPPENHEIM: It's a wrenching time for friends and family of potential victims. At the same time, there are lingering questions as to who may be responsible.
OPPENHEIM (on camera): The Rhode Island Attorney General is conducting a criminal investigation, but for now the focus is to determine the identity of the dead, who officials believe range in age from their teens to their late 30s. Keith Oppenheim, CNN, West Warwick, Rhode Island.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Although the club owner says the band Great White did not have permission to use pyrotechnics, an attorney for the band says otherwise.
So far this year, Great White has played dates from Palo Alto, California, to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and we're told no pyrotechnics were used in the shows that you see listed there on the map. The band did use fireworks at Hewitt, Minnesota and Sioux City, Iowa, however, and it's alleged they used pyrotechnics without permission at clubs in Florida and New Jersey.
And, again, authorities are still sorting out the details in this case. There has been no determination on who is at fault just yet but it is, indeed, a criminal investigation.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Nightclub?>
