I i 2 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, February 18, 2003 NATION/WORLD Nightclub pepper spray incident kills 21 CHICAGO (AP) - It was a chaotic scene: hundreds of screaming people stumbling down the darkened stairs of an illegally operated night- club, gasping for air and stepping on bodies, only to find themselves trapped at the bottom trying to escape through a single exit. At least 21 people were killed and 57 injured in the stampede early yesterday at the crowded E2 nightclub, authorities said. There were reports that as many as 500 people were crammed into the second-floor club when someone sprayed Mace or pepper spray to quell a fight about 2 a.m. The nightclub was operating in violation of a months-old court order meant to close it down, fire officials said. A judge later denied a request by the owners to reopen. "The owner knows damn well that he is not to open that second-floor facility," said Fire Commissioner James Joyce. City officials said they plan to go to court as early as today to seek criminal contempt charges against the owner. The nightclub had been cited for 11 building code violations and the city has been in court with the owners since last July, officials said. Witnesses described a frenzied scene of some people trying to climb through the ceiling, while others were trampled in the frantic rush for .an exit, their faces and bodies flattened against the glass front door. Some people fainted on the club floor; others were coughing and crying, gagging and blindly groping for any way out. "'People were being trapped underneath you ... so we're actually standing on people's heads and we didn't even know it," said Amishoov Blackwell, a 30-year-old patron. "It was just bod- ies laying everywhere." Blackwell said one man crushed between two people told him, "I can't breathe! I want you to hold my hand, man. If I don't make it, tell my mom that I love her!' He just basical- ly collapsed." Some witnesses reported that the lights were cut in the stairwell. Yesterday afternoon, Joyce backed off earlier statements that firefighters had used sledgeham- mers and pry bars to open other doors in the half- block-long building. NEWS IN BRIEF i. HEALIESFROM AROUND THE WORLD BAGHDAD, Iraq U.S. flies surveillance plane over Iraq An American U-2 surveillance plane made its first flight over Iraq yesterday in support of the current U.N. inspection mission, marking another concession by Saddam Hussein's regime to stave off a U.S.-led attack. Meanwhile, Iraqi state television broadcast scenes of Iraqi troops in maneuvers to defend the country from a possible U.S. attack. State television also said Sad- dam praised last weekend's anti-war protests, singling out those in Italy, Spain and Britain whose governments support the strong U.S. position against Baghdad. The U-2 flight took place only one week after the United Nations and Baghdad broke an impasse that had kept the reconnaissance plane grounded since the start of inspections in November. The Iraqis agreed to allow U-2 flights last week, ful- filling a major demand by U.N. inspectors seeking to determine if Iraq still har- bors weapons of mass destruction. "At 11:55 a.m., a U-2 surveillance plane entered Iraqi airspace and reconnoi- tered several areas of Iraq and left Iraqi airspace at 4:15 p.m.," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The reconnaissance operation lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes." The statement did not indicate the plane's flight path. "A U-2 did fly today," said Ewen Buchanan, the New York-based spokesman for chief inspector Hans Blix. SEOUL, South Korea Armistice ending Korean War under fire North Korea threatened today to abandon the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War, accusing the United States of plotting an attack on the communist state. A spokesman of the North's Korean People's Army claimed that the United States was building up reinforcements around the Korean Peninsula in prepara- tions to attack the North, said the North's official news agency KCNA. "The situation is, therefore, getting more serious as the days go by as it is put- ting its plan for pre-emptive attacks on the (North) into practice," KCNA quoted the unidentified spokesman as saying. The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the countries technically in a state of war. A North Korean withdrawal from the armistice would remove the main mechanism that is helping to keep an uneasy peace on the peninsula, where the border between the two Koreas is the world's most heavily armed. The announcement is the latest move in a crisis over the North's recent decision to restart its nuclear programs in violations of international treaties. Friends and family of victims of the nightclub, tragedy console each other yesterday morning. " earl y ~s Date - ~ Mabreak The Associated Press Publ l C. Mon CI Snowfall causes deaths, power loss in Northeast The worst blizzard in seven years shut down much of the Northeast on Presidents Day with blinding, wind- blown snow that piled up as much as 4 feet deep and left more than a quarter of a million homes and businesses shivering without power. At least 21 deaths had been blamed on. the storm system since it charged out of the Plains during the weekend, piling snow in the Ohio Valley, pro- ducing mudslides and floods in the southern Appalachians, and making layers of ice that snapped trees and power lines. The storm was headed for New Eng- land, where Massachusetts expected up to 2 feet of snow and minor coastal LucyfMarc Tuesday, March 4 Wednesday. March 5 Deadline Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, February February February 19 19 19 flooding. Airports for Washington, Balti- more, Philadelphia and New York largely shut down, stranding thou- sands of passengers trying to leave and get into the region. Amtrak's north-south service was halted between Washington and Rich- mond, Va., and regional bus service stopped in many areas. The holiday meant there were few commuters, but police from Kentucky to Massachusetts pleaded with motorists to stay home and some coun- ties banned nonessential travel so they could clear the roads. "This is going to be days worth of cleanup," said Maryland High- way Administration spokesman David Buck. EU asks 'for more time to disarm Iraq BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Euro- pean leaders, trying to end their bitter dispute over Iraq, warned Saddam Hus- sein yesterday he faces a "last chance" to disarm, but gave no deadline and said U.N. weapons inspectors must have more time to finish their work. The statement came at the end of a European Union emergency sumt on the crisis with Baghdad. Diplomats insisted they had healed the rift over U.S. calls for military action. But significant divisions remained, with some states saying the United Nations could still dis- arm Iraq peacefully. "War is not inevitable. Force should be used only as a last resort. It is for the Iraqi regime to end this crisis by com- plying fully with the demands of the Security Council," the 15 nations said in the joint declaration. That was seen as a setback for Ger- many, which has opposed war under any circumstances. "Baghdad should have no illusions. It must disarm and cooperate immediately and fully. The Iraqi regime alone will be responsible for the consequences if it continues to flout the will of the interna- tional community and does not take this last chance," the leaders said. While that position will cheer the United States and Britain, which are urg- ing military action, there was still strong support for continued, possibly increased U.N. weapons inspections. The state- ment gave no indication of how much longer inspections should continue, but said they could not go on forever with- out Iraqi cooperation, ''They must be given the time and resources that the U.N. Security Coun- cil believes they need," the declaration said. "However, inspections cannot continue indefinitely in the absence of full Iraqi cooperation." FUEL CELL Continued from Page 1 technology in the market are truly based on an ability to be profitable and receive financing, Peng said Automotive companies like Honda and Nissan are producing hydrogen fuel cell technologies that have substantial potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the short term, Peng added. Although very expensive for today's markets, these manufacturers have developed environmentally clean products, which are currently for lease but not for sale, Heung said. To become a reality, the hydrogen economy will need to overcome many obstacles, among them technology refinement and infrastructure develop- SPACE CENTER, Houston Search for Columbia wreckage continues As the days become weeks since Columbia's disintegration over Texas, fewer and fewer pieces of Columbia wreckage are turning up, even though the calls keep coming in. Yesterday, NASA asked farmers and ranchers out West to be on the lookout during spring plowing for anything that might have fallen from the sky, on Feb. 1. "It's kind of a mixed thing. There's a tremendous amount of information avail- able already, even though not everything directly points to a particular thing. There are a lot of circumstantial things," said NASA's Steve Nesbitt, who is serving as the spokesman for the acci- dent investigation board. He added that "there's a continuing belief and feeling that things are going to continue to develop" and that more debris may be found. "Everybody wants to contribute. They all want to help and it's great. The board certainly wants to listen,"Nesbitt said. JERUSALEM Israel gearing up for Iraq missile attack Israel has been preparing for an Iraqi missile attack since the last Gulf War, and now says it's ready. A state-of-the-art missile defense is in place. "Safe rooms" are standard in new homes. Teams equipped against chemi- cal weapons and inoculated against smallpox are set to rush to attack sites. The Home Front Command has set up , I evacuation centers nationwide. Israelis have picked up gas masks for them- selves and tents for small children. Despite these efforts, there's an almost daily guessing game on whether Iraq can and will strike Israel. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says there's only a small threat, and gov- ernment and military analysts seem confident Iraq will not be able to do what it did in 1991, when it hurled 39 Scuds at Israel - sowing panic and inflicting extensive damage, but causing few casualties. CHICAGO Alzheimer's linked to fats, study says Some dietary fats might help pre- vent Alzheimer's disease, others may increase the risk and - contrary to some reports - antioxidant vita- mins may have no effect on the mind-robbing ailment, two studies suggest. The study on fats adds to growing evidence that the same type of diet that protects the heart may benefit the brain. Data are more mixed on effects on Alzheimer's of antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and beta-carotene, although recent studies have sug- gested a potential benefit, and scien- tists say a link makes biological sense. The discrepancy may be explained by different study characteristics, say authors of the latest antioxidant research, from Columbia University. - Compiled from Daily wire-reports. The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. 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