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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Ken Herzlich

Aired June 29, 2003 - 07:30   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.


KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: As we've discussing a fair amount this morning, a crowded third story deck just simply collapsed at a party overnight in Chicago. It was in an apartment building, killing at least 12.
Joining us now is a reporter live from the scene, Ken Herzlich. He's in Chicago.

Good morning to you, Ken. Obviously, a tough day for a lot of people, including officials, authorities, not to mention family members, victims.

KEN HERZLICH, CHICAGO: Yes, it was a pretty rough night out here. About 12:30, there was a call on the fire radio for an EMS plane 1 for a porch collapse, which initially brings out about five ambulances. When they got to the scene, they found that a third story porch here had collapsed down to the second floor, pancaked all the way down into the basement level. You can see the debris here.

All these porch levels were loaded with college-aged kids. They were having quite a large party, which was completely overloading this deck. This -- it's not built as strongly as it should be. You can see where it kind of broke away in some spots. There were college age kids strewn all about the alley here. The fire department eventually brought in 15 ambulances. They ended up shuttling back and forth to the hospitals with those ambulances.

Right now, there's 12 dead and upwards of about 22 or so that are still injured. And some are in very critical condition.

The fire department did what they could with triage. There actually were some people trapped under the debris. And they had to pull up the debris to get at those people.

OSBORN: You know, Ken, Cortez Strauder (ph) was talking about this earlier in the briefing, which I'm sure you were listening to. And he said that essentially that deck wasn't equipped to hold what he believed was the number of people on it. And it took the second floor with it.

HERZLICH: That's correct. It pancaked down from the third floor onto the second, and then down into the lower level.

OSBORN: It's tough to get a sense of it, just looking at the pictures, but from where we're sitting, the wood in the building behind you doesn't look super sturdy. Is -- you're closer to the scene. Is that what you're seeing also?

HERZLICH: Right. It's definitely not made for that type of thing. It's made to hold a few people. Definitely not dozens or hundreds, which may have been out here.

OSBORN: And then lastly, quickly on the casualty front, everyone has been triaged, meaning those who have been recovered from the scene are being treated at a hospital. The casualty count is not likely to get any higher or is it?

HERZLICH: It may. There were definitely some very critical injured that were taken from here, in addition to the fatalities. The patients are at a number of area hospitals, probably eight different hospitals.

There's a couple of trauma centers that are nearby here, that the worst of the patients went to.

OSBORN: Ken Herzlich, live from the scene in Chicago. Thank you very much.

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 June 29, 2003 - 07:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: As we've discussing a fair amount this morning, a crowded third story deck just simply collapsed at a party overnight in Chicago. It was in an apartment building, killing at least 12.
Joining us now is a reporter live from the scene, Ken Herzlich. He's in Chicago.

Good morning to you, Ken. Obviously, a tough day for a lot of people, including officials, authorities, not to mention family members, victims.

KEN HERZLICH, CHICAGO: Yes, it was a pretty rough night out here. About 12:30, there was a call on the fire radio for an EMS plane 1 for a porch collapse, which initially brings out about five ambulances. When they got to the scene, they found that a third story porch here had collapsed down to the second floor, pancaked all the way down into the basement level. You can see the debris here.

All these porch levels were loaded with college-aged kids. They were having quite a large party, which was completely overloading this deck. This -- it's not built as strongly as it should be. You can see where it kind of broke away in some spots. There were college age kids strewn all about the alley here. The fire department eventually brought in 15 ambulances. They ended up shuttling back and forth to the hospitals with those ambulances.

Right now, there's 12 dead and upwards of about 22 or so that are still injured. And some are in very critical condition.

The fire department did what they could with triage. There actually were some people trapped under the debris. And they had to pull up the debris to get at those people.

OSBORN: You know, Ken, Cortez Strauder (ph) was talking about this earlier in the briefing, which I'm sure you were listening to. And he said that essentially that deck wasn't equipped to hold what he believed was the number of people on it. And it took the second floor with it.

HERZLICH: That's correct. It pancaked down from the third floor onto the second, and then down into the lower level.

OSBORN: It's tough to get a sense of it, just looking at the pictures, but from where we're sitting, the wood in the building behind you doesn't look super sturdy. Is -- you're closer to the scene. Is that what you're seeing also?

HERZLICH: Right. It's definitely not made for that type of thing. It's made to hold a few people. Definitely not dozens or hundreds, which may have been out here.

OSBORN: And then lastly, quickly on the casualty front, everyone has been triaged, meaning those who have been recovered from the scene are being treated at a hospital. The casualty count is not likely to get any higher or is it?

HERZLICH: It may. There were definitely some very critical injured that were taken from here, in addition to the fatalities. The patients are at a number of area hospitals, probably eight different hospitals.

There's a couple of trauma centers that are nearby here, that the worst of the patients went to.

OSBORN: Ken Herzlich, live from the scene in Chicago. Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com