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Morning News

Three Dead, 54 Injured in Seton Hall University Freshman Dorm Fire

Aired January 19, 2000 - 10:00 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to start with the latest from Seton Hall, where an early morning fire has claimed three lives. The blaze broke out in a freshman dormitory at the New Jersey college.

CNN's Frank Buckley is in South Orange, New Jersey, with the latest.

Frank, what do you have?

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, the governor of New Jersey, the archbishop of Newark and other officials were here just a few moments ago to call this a terrible tragedy. They tell us now that three students are dead, 54 are injured, three in critical condition.

The fire broke out at Boland Hall at 4:30, this morning. That is a freshman residence hall on campus for roughly 600 students. Students were asleep when the fire broke out on the third floor in a common area. They were evacuated into very cold weather in whatever they had on as they slept.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My roommate said to get out, and I went down, and I'm like, I want to go get back up and get my stuff. About 20 seconds later, I was only down, like, a flight of stairs, I went back up to get my stuff and just black smoke just, like -- I opened the door a crack and it just came right at me, and I realized I couldn't make it to my room, so I just ran right downstairs as fast as I can.

QUESTION: Panic?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it was all over, panic all over. Everybody was panicking.

MONSIGNOR ROBERT SHEERAN: It's very difficult to find any human words to say at this time. This is a heartbreaking tragedy for Seton Hall University, for our families, for all the Seton Hall Family, for the larger family of the state. We thank so many people for being with us. Many of us who live on campus were there at 5:00, this morning, and we thank you for being with us. We thank you for the support of so many people. Words cannot express what -- what's happening to us now. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BUCKLEY: And in recognition of what has happened here, classes have canceled at this 10,000-student university for the day. There is no information yet available on the possible cause or causes of this fire, and a local prosecutor, the county prosecutor, has taken the lead in the investigation. We are told that is standard procedure in a fire involving death in this county -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Frank, we were listening to a bit of that news conference, last hour, here, live on CNN. There was some mention, some questions about fire hoses or fire equipment not being in the right place to help fight this fire. Have you heard anything about that?

BUCKLEY: Well, that is something that's coming out from some of the students that have emerged from Boland Hall. They've also spoken to the idea that there have in the past been a number of pranks pulled where students have pulled fire alarms with there being no fire during finals week, last semester. We asked the questions regarding those comments from the student and so far the county prosecutor is saying he didn't want to speculate as to whether or not any of that is true.

KAGAN: Frank Buckley in South Orange, New Jersey, thank you for the latest. And as Frank mentioned, there are 10,000 students who go to Seton Hall. Obviously, a large number of families who want information about their students and loved ones. Here's an 800 number you can call: 800-739-6648.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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