The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 01, 1999, Page 6, Image 6
Nation & World
i _
Dozens of animals die in aquarium fire;
survivors live in firefighter's bathroom
by John Curran
Associated Press
Ocean City, N J. — When the Ocean City Aquari
um caught fire, firefighters feared its dpzens of snakes,
sharks and alligators were dead—until an 18 -foot python
slithered up through the ashes.
Then two laige alligators appeared, and a few tur
tles.
And the firefighters’ attention shifted to what crea
tures were still alive and lurking in the next puddle as
they stomped through the aquarium’s charred ruins in
the dark.
“It would be hard to explain how one of your men
got bit by a caiman while he was fighting a fire,” Fire
Capt. Bill McDonnell said early Sunday as he helped
direct cautious firefighters into the building after the
flames had been extinguished.
The smoke and flames killed more than 60 reptiles
and 100 fish and sharks.
Among the survivors: 20 turtles, 12 alligators and
crocodiles, three boa constrictors, two pythons and a
moray eel, aquarium owner Angelo Cuculino said Sun
day.
The fire early Saturday evening destroyed the 11/2
story pink stucco building that houses the 4-year-old
aquarium and about 40,000 visitors a year. A neighbor
reported hearing an explosion, but by the time fire
fighters arrived, the aquarium was engulfed in flames.
One of the first on the scene spotted was an 18-foot
African rock python. Cuculino grabbed it behind the
head and stuffed it into a Styrofoam box.
His wife, June, carried a red-eared slider turtle to
safety, and firefighter Ed Kooker rescued four caimans
and stuffed them into wire cages.
Then came the big alligators.
Kooker struggled out of the charred building with
a 5-footer as his fellow firefighters rushed in with duct
tape to fasten the animal’s snout shut.
The only place to keep the four alligators was to
leave them writhing in the back seat of Mrs. Cuculino’s
1988 Mazda.
For now, the four are living in Cuculino’s bathroom.
Sunday morning, a 10-foot Burmese python turned
up — coiled in a comer window of the aquarium gift
shop, still alive.
A 4-foot anaconda found Cuculino, biting him on
the thumb, but causing no serious injury.
None of the firefighters was badly hurt.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation,
said Deputy Chief Mark McCulley.
It happened on Mischief Night, the night before Hal
loween, when vandals and arsonists have been known
to strike.
‘It would be hard to explain how
one of your men got bit by a
caiman while he was fighting a
fire.’
Bill McDonnell
Ocean City Fire Captain
Feeding the children
1_: . I _£_£l_J
Special to The Gamecock
A British peacekeeper gives food to some street children Sunday in
Pristina, Kosovo. British soldiers have been collecting money to buy
food for these children, who spend their days searching for food in the
piles of garbage along the street.
Man confesses to 140 murders in Colombia
by Martin Hodgson
Associated Press
Pereka, Colombia—Twelve freshly planted palms
stand as a memorial to the 25 children whose skele
tal remains were found here last year, leading po
lice officers to a man who might be one of history’s
worst serial killers.
Brightly painted figures of children at play are
carved into an overlooking hillside, and a sign at the
bottom of the grassy gully reads: “If we continue
with the indifference and the abandonment, we’ll
never know what happened to the children of
Pereira.”
The gruesome findings last November in the
ravine and a nearby overgrown city lot in Colom
bia’s bustling western coffee belt sparked a public
outcry that prompted a nationwide investigation in
to more than 100 missing children over the past sev
eral years.
This week, the break came. A 42-year-old drifter
confessed to killing 140 children during a five-year
rampage, chief federal prosecutor Alfonso Gomez
said.
Luis Alfredo Garavito, who was jailed on at
tempted rape charges in April, confessed to the
killings after being presented with overwhelming
evidence linking him to the attacks, the prosecutor
said.
Luring his victims with a myriad of disguises—
a cripple, a monk, a beggar, a priest, a charity work
er — Garavito gained his victims’ confidence by of
fering them soft drinks and money. In several of the
59 towns he drifted through, Garavito earned
nicknames, including “El Loco” and “Goofy.”
■ Most of his victims were boys from poor fami
lies between the ages of 8 and 16. Many had their
throats slit, and some of their remains were found
tied to trees with nylon rope. Others were buried in
shallow graves. Gomez said Saturday that Garavito
had raped some of the children.
Prosecutors have not yet formally chaiged Gar
avito, who lived in neighboring Ecuador during part
of 1998 and is being investigated in connection with
child slayings there. Nor have they identified all of
the 114 bodies found so far.
Prosecutors said Garavito was himself a victim
of child abuse, and would undergo extensive psy
chological testing. Although not yet formally facing
murder charges, Garavito still faces charges of at
tempting to rape a 12-year-old boy.
The principal of an elementary school, from
which an 8-year-old student was missing in August
1998, said city residents are still on edge, even with
Garavito behind bars.
“With Halloween approaching, the mothers are
worried once again,” Maria Teresa Correa said.
For a mother whose son and nephew, aged 11
and 8, were among those whose remains were found,
Garavito’s announced confession was no comfort.
“They should kill him, not put him in a prison
where he’ll get fat like a pig,” Maria Consuelo Velez,
34, told The Associated Press.
Colombia doesn’t have the death penalty.
In October 1998, the two boys went out to sell
newspapers and never returned. Velez said police
investigated only after it was too late: “When I need
ed them to help, they did nothing.”
Unlike many of Garavito’s alleged victims —
children of the vendors who sell everything from
cigarettes to shoelaces on the streets of Colom
bia’s cities — the Velez boys had a home.
Crash
from page 4
EgyptAir of a terrorist threat.
“We take all precautions, and we
have plenty of warnings from everybody,
including the FA A,” he said.
Armed security guards routinely fly
on EgyptAir flights. After the airline’s
passengers go through the normal airport
security check, they’re again subjected
to baggage search just before they board
the aircraft.
Jim Hall, chairman of the National
Transportation Safety Board, said
EgyptAir and Egyptian government of
ficials were heading to the United States
to assist in the investigation.
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Solomon-Tenenbaum Lectureship
in Jewish Studies
1999
Wednesday, November 3, in Russell House Theater
Screening of the film “Nasty Girl” at 1:30 p.m.
Followed by: Panel Discussion at 3:00 p.m.
'
Panelists: Anna Rosmus (subject of the film), Prof. Alfred Nordmann (PHIL),
Prof. Natalie Kaufman (GINT), Prof. Stanley Levine (FREN, USC- Aiken)
Samuel Tenenbaum; Prof. Kevin Lewis (RELG), moderator.
V
Thursday, November 4, in Gambrell Hall Auditorium:
“MY JEWISH MISSION: A GERMAN WOMAN’S SEARCH FOR TRUTH”
ANNA ROSMUS
Solomon-Tenenbaum Lecturer
8:00 p.m.
Additional screenings of “Nasty Girl” (the story of Rosmus’s discovery of the hidden
Nazi past of her hometown, Passau, Germany): Monday, Nov. 1, 7:00 p.m., and
Tuesday, Nov.2, 3:30 p.m.- in Russell House Theatre
Want to know
what the talk is about?
H3S
36.5m
Listen to Little E’s
Live & in the
Mix Trance Show.
Wednesday, 6-9pm.
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