the wizard - 6-29-2003 at 07:27 AM
“THERE WAS CHAOS. People were screaming and crying in the alley” when rescuers arrived, Chicago Fire Commissioner James Joyce said.
The overloaded rear porch fell in on itself, trapping victims underneath in a mass of bodies and shattered wood. The collapse occurred at an
apartment building in the upscale Lincoln Park North Side neighborhood.
Survivors of the early morning collapse tried to pull people from the pile, and were soon joined by Fire Department rescuers who used chainsaws
to cut through to victims.
“As they got deeper into the pile of humanity the injuries were more serious,” Joyce said.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said it had received 12 bodies from the accident, both men and women. More than 30 injured were
taken to hospitals.
Hours after the collapse, officials said they believed all the victims had been pulled out of the porch debris.
Wooden porches are a common sight at the rear of Chicago apartment buildings, and collapses can occur as the crude structures age, sometimes to
deadly effect.
Witnesses estimated as many as 50 people were crammed together on the porch when it collapsed, Joyce said. “It appears to be a case of too
many people in a small space,” he said.
“There were bodies and people everywhere. It was mayhem,” one man, who said he arrived soon after the collapse, told local radio.
Sunday’s accident was the latest to hit America’s third largest city.
In February, 21 people trying to flee a Chicago nightclub were crushed to death when a crowd became trapped in a narrow staircase. The panic
was set off by a club worker using crowd control spray to quell a fight.
© 2003 Reuters Limited.
what a bunch of total retards, how can ya feel sorry for them? 50 people,,,50 PEOPLE ON A VERY SMALL PATIO!! jeez, its not exactly rocket science to
figure that one out huh?
:idea: