Band to pay $1M in case over deadly club fire

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Band to pay $1M in case over deadly club fire
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Fire at Rhode Island night club killed 100

Great White, an '80s rock band, agrees to $1M settlement

Pyrotechnics at band's show started deadly blaze

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) -- The 1980s rock band whose pyrotechnics sparked a nightclub fire that killed 100 people have agreed to pay $1 million.

The settlement offer from Great White to survivors and victims' relatives was revealed in court papers Tuesday.

Roughly $175 million has now been offered by dozens of defendants to settle lawsuits over the blaze in February 2003
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/02/club.fire.settlement.ap/index.html

I was living in Mass when this happened and it was so horrific watching it on TV. This is what happened.

At least 96 killed in nightclub inferno
Governor: DNA might be only clue to identity of some victims
Friday, February 21, 2003 Posted: 11:45 PM EST (0445 GMT)

WEST WARWICK, Rhode Island (CNN) -- Ninety-six people died Thursday in a fast-moving fire at a Rhode Island nightclub, Gov. Don Carcieri said Friday afternoon, adding that only a handful of the bodies have been identified.

With 35 people in critical and serious conditions, the governor said it would not surprise him if the death toll were to rise above 100.

Because some bodies are badly burned, Carcieri said, family members might have to wait for DNA testing to learn their loved ones' fate.

Dorothy Palazzo is searching for her cousin, who attended the music show at The Station concert club in West Warwick.

"We're hoping that he walks in that door," she said. "He's got a great wife, beautiful children waiting for him to walk through the door and come home."

Other families made the rounds of hospitals and morgues, several showing photographs of the missing in hopes that someone saw them escape the club.

Pyrotechnics used by the heavy metal band Great White ignited the inferno. Owners of the nightclub have said they did not know the band planned to use fireworks, but Great White lead singer Jack Russell said, "Our tour manager set that up with the club." (Full story)

At least 187 injured people were taken to nearby hospitals, where 81 were admitted, the governor said. Ten were flown to the nearest burn centers in Massachusetts.

Investigators are sifting the charred wreckage for personal identification and belongings that might help identify the victims, he said.

Families are being asked to bring photographs of the missing to a crisis center that has been set up at the nearby Crowne Plaza Hotel. Grief counselors and clergy members are on hand to help families.

CNN still has the link up

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/21/deadly.nightclub.fire/