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Show Sunday, January 2, 2005 DAILY HERAL ).. Families of victims in Argentina nightclub blaze try Ito identify dead, prepare burials Kevin Gray ". hi VCtiAUD PRESS BUENOS AIRES. Argentina Anguished families struggled Saturday to identify the bodies of relatives killed in a Buenos Aires nightclub fire that left at least 175 people dead, many after being trapped inside by locked emergency exits. The club's owner, Omar Chaban, was being held by authorities pending an investi-gatip- n into Thursday's inferno. Judicial officials said they were looking into claims the building was overcrowded at the time of the blaze, which also injured some 714 people. Police were also looking for three business partners of who have not contacted investigators since the fire. Investigators said they believed one of Argentina's worst disasters began when somebody set off a flare during the concert, igniting the foam ceiling of the Cromagnon Republic club while it , was crowded with about 4.000 mostly teenage fans of the Argentine rock band Los Callejeros. The building had a capacity for some 1,500 people, city of. ficials said. The fire triggered a stam- if she's dead or injured. I've searched the hdspitals, everywhere, but haven't been able to find her," she said. Officials said more than a dozen people believed to have been inside the nightclub remain unaccounted for, and Argentine media published lists with descriptions of the missing many of them teenagers with details of clothing, tattoos, and hair and eye color in an effort to help locate them. On a sweltering day in the Southern Hemisphere summertime, neighbors and concerned citizens carried bottles of water, plastic chairs and food to AA3 D U'LLJIU:! V 4 'il . ' .Mil. I .. " .' '.. ' -- v ' , , ' Relatives and friends . of Jackeline Santillan throw flowers on her grave in a Buenos Aires cemetery. Santillan was one of the victims of a Buenos Aires , nightclub fire that broke out Thursday during a rock concert, killing 175 and injuring hundreds. family members and relatives awaiting news at city morgues and hospitals. "This has been a tremendous tragedy, and I wantqd to find some small way that I could help," said Estefania Vonkorfs, 16, as she handed out bottles of water. Vonkorfs said she had been moved in part because she had originally planned to attend the concert but wasn't able to buy a ticket. At least 72 victims have been identified, officials said, but the process was being slowed because many of the dead were teenagers who were not carry- 4 ' It u 3tW h CARLOS GRECO DYN Associated Press ing identification. 's pede for the exits as the concert hall filled with choking black smoke. Survivors told of people struggling to force open emergency exits, which authorities said were either tied shut or padlocked to prevent people from entering without paying. Many of the victims died from smoke inhalation, city officials said. Dozens of families gathered at the city's morgues to identify the bodies of relatives while volunteer psychologists circulated among the crowd hoping to console relatives. Some wire still searching for lost loved ones and frantically scanned lists of the injured, missing and dead posted near the morgue. One woman, Paula Espindol-am- . said she had not been able cousin to find her two days after the blaze. "She's on the list of the disappeared, but we don't know ml IP b il v. iv'??fri?- 2 I 4 Br 1 " v HOST nil i LflDELPHIfl 7GERS W 1! i In ED NE SDHV "" FIRST 5.000 . JRNURRV 5 AT 7:00 PM FANS THROUGH THE DOOR RECEIVE R FLEECE BLflNHET COURTESY OF DELIA HIR LINES! If A ! Mil Mi . """"" iii.mil tHBQOEElMMl .jiff-- : ic w i n Cm s 0 if If 3 8 i 0uUulDliJ-- D liAjJUUliil Do nwm wmimmmmmBRsmm wmmm Xii.itf"T"' urA'.ij.. I 1 1 |
