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CNN Saturday Morning News
Nightclub Fire Claims 96 Lives
Aired February 22, 2003 - 07:02 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to let you know we are standing by for a news conference on the Rhode Island nightclub fire, which we do plan to bring you live when it happens.
But to update you now, the death toll stands at 96 from thursday night's blaze, but that number could go higher. More than 20 people are in critical condition, many with severe burns.
Joining us live now from Warwick, Rhode Island, is our Whitney Casey with the very latest. Good morning to you, Whitney.
WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Yes, and we are waiting for the governor. He's expected around 7:00, so he may interrupt my report. I just want to preface that.
But yes, as of last night, he said 96 people was the recent death toll here. He said seven had been identified, and they were expecting overnight that possibly eight more would be identified. So far, that leaves 89 that are unidentified, 180 people that are in area hospitals, and 25 in critical condition.
Now, to -- we just spoke with the emergency management agency head here in Rhode Island, and he says that the scene behind me right now is no longer a search-and-recovery scene, it is now only an investigation scene. That's because now the daunting task of the medical examiner's office is to identify these bodies.
Now, for help, the governor has said they've brought in federal assistance in the form of five pathology teams. And what they are hoping on doing is going to the family assistance center and having families bring things like hairbrushes, toothbrushes, dental records, DNA samples, things like that. And they're extensively interviewing these family members, hundreds of family members yesterday at the hotel, which is now the family assistance center.
They're interviewing them and asking them to bring these things. But still 89 people have not been identified, so these families have been here all day sort of roaming the streets with pictures like nomads, asking people, Did you know where my brother, my sister, my cousin was last night?
And these families also met here last night for a prayer vigil, and so did other people from the community, to come together in their grievance. And as right now, I'm looking down the street a bit just to see how this press conference is going. They're still setting it up right now.
But the investigation -- in terms of the investigation, the band continues to maintain that they did have permission to use those pyrotechnics.
And I think we have the press conference beginning right now with the governor of Rhode Island. Let's take that now live.
COLLINS: You know, Whitney, I think that we are actually still waiting for that. But of course we do want to take it when we get there.
In the meantime, let me ask you briefly, if I may, I am sure that reporters have not had a chance to speak with family, obviously, in this horrible time for them. But I am wondering, are you able to get a sense from anyone who has spoken with them how they're doing? And hoping that the prayer vigil, when they all came together to sort of talk about this and grieve together, may have helped a little bit? Or are you hearing anything at all about that?
CASEY: Well, last night, actually, a Red Cross volunteer brought me in, because the media is not allowed into the family assistance center. But she brought me to the periphery and told me sort of what was going on there. And I did see some of the family members. And she said really what they're doing there, they have a lot of counseling there and prayer sessions.
And really, sort of being together has helped those family members mostly, because really, when you have so many unanswered questions, and when there are so many that have not been identified, these family members being together and sort of sharing their own stories and giving each other advice is kind of helping them get through this tough time.
But the community has really come together, galvanized in this. And that kind of support is showing up all over. And you see it in signs, and they're reaching out to these families, seeing if they can do anything. And the Red Cross has really helped a lot here also at the family assistance center, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Whitney, thanks so much.
And we do want to let everybody know that we are, of course, watching the podium, as you can see there, waiting for the governor of Rhode Island to come out and tell us the latest information that we could possibly get from this horrible tragedy.
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 22, 2003 - 07:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to let you know we are standing by for a news conference on the Rhode Island nightclub fire, which we do plan to bring you live when it happens.
But to update you now, the death toll stands at 96 from thursday night's blaze, but that number could go higher. More than 20 people are in critical condition, many with severe burns.
Joining us live now from Warwick, Rhode Island, is our Whitney Casey with the very latest. Good morning to you, Whitney.
WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Yes, and we are waiting for the governor. He's expected around 7:00, so he may interrupt my report. I just want to preface that.
But yes, as of last night, he said 96 people was the recent death toll here. He said seven had been identified, and they were expecting overnight that possibly eight more would be identified. So far, that leaves 89 that are unidentified, 180 people that are in area hospitals, and 25 in critical condition.
Now, to -- we just spoke with the emergency management agency head here in Rhode Island, and he says that the scene behind me right now is no longer a search-and-recovery scene, it is now only an investigation scene. That's because now the daunting task of the medical examiner's office is to identify these bodies.
Now, for help, the governor has said they've brought in federal assistance in the form of five pathology teams. And what they are hoping on doing is going to the family assistance center and having families bring things like hairbrushes, toothbrushes, dental records, DNA samples, things like that. And they're extensively interviewing these family members, hundreds of family members yesterday at the hotel, which is now the family assistance center.
They're interviewing them and asking them to bring these things. But still 89 people have not been identified, so these families have been here all day sort of roaming the streets with pictures like nomads, asking people, Did you know where my brother, my sister, my cousin was last night?
And these families also met here last night for a prayer vigil, and so did other people from the community, to come together in their grievance. And as right now, I'm looking down the street a bit just to see how this press conference is going. They're still setting it up right now.
But the investigation -- in terms of the investigation, the band continues to maintain that they did have permission to use those pyrotechnics.
And I think we have the press conference beginning right now with the governor of Rhode Island. Let's take that now live.
COLLINS: You know, Whitney, I think that we are actually still waiting for that. But of course we do want to take it when we get there.
In the meantime, let me ask you briefly, if I may, I am sure that reporters have not had a chance to speak with family, obviously, in this horrible time for them. But I am wondering, are you able to get a sense from anyone who has spoken with them how they're doing? And hoping that the prayer vigil, when they all came together to sort of talk about this and grieve together, may have helped a little bit? Or are you hearing anything at all about that?
CASEY: Well, last night, actually, a Red Cross volunteer brought me in, because the media is not allowed into the family assistance center. But she brought me to the periphery and told me sort of what was going on there. And I did see some of the family members. And she said really what they're doing there, they have a lot of counseling there and prayer sessions.
And really, sort of being together has helped those family members mostly, because really, when you have so many unanswered questions, and when there are so many that have not been identified, these family members being together and sort of sharing their own stories and giving each other advice is kind of helping them get through this tough time.
But the community has really come together, galvanized in this. And that kind of support is showing up all over. And you see it in signs, and they're reaching out to these families, seeing if they can do anything. And the Red Cross has really helped a lot here also at the family assistance center, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Whitney, thanks so much.
And we do want to let everybody know that we are, of course, watching the podium, as you can see there, waiting for the governor of Rhode Island to come out and tell us the latest information that we could possibly get from this horrible tragedy.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
