Relatives bussed in as police investigate nightclub inferno

Svea Herbst-Bayliss, West Warwick

To honour the dead and the families’ grief, friends and relatives were bussed to the blackened remains of the wood-framed building yesterday afternoon after asking Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri for a formal viewing of the scene. Carcieri, seeking to keep news cameras away, also imposed an 8km no-fly zone over the building’s rubble, now surrounded by a newly-erected chain link fence.

Pathologists and dentists, meanwhile, worked through the night at the state’s medical examiner’s offices in Providence about 15 miles away to identify the remains of the victims from Thursday night’s fire.

Only 21 of 96 victims had been identified, Carcieri told a news conference.

He said 65 people were still being treated at burn units in Rhode Island and Massachusetts hospitals, after 105 victims had been treated and released. Several patients are in serious condition, prompting doctors to warn the death toll could go higher.

It was one of the worst nightclub disasters ever in the United States.

Chief surgeon at Rhode Island Hospital Dr William Cioffi, the state’s only level one trauma centre, said some patients would soon be operated on to perform skin grafts. Survivors of the blaze had described people fleeing the building with their hair and clothes on fire. The fire was ignited by pyrotechnics set off as the heavy metal band Great White began their set. Video footage taken inside the club showed flames licking at foam insulation behind the stage, which erupted into a fast-moving fire that sent fans stampeding for the exits.

In dispute is whether the band requested or obtained permission for the display. Both parties have stuck to their conflicting claims, with co-owner Jeff Derderian saying he didn’t know of the band’s plans. The band’s singer Jack Russell said it had permission to ignite the fireworks. Other band representatives say the display had not been used at other venues without authorisation.

Fireworks were not allowed at The Station, West Warwick, fire officials have said.