Tonight I listened to an All Things Considered broadcast as I drove the carpool. One segment grabbed my attention: “‘Hell on Earth’ at the Convention Center.”
For this audio segment, reporter John Burnett said he interviewed more than 2 dozen eye witnesses who were present inside the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Aug. 30 through Sept. 2, witnesses who had since relocated to evacuation centers in places like Austin, where Burnett finished interviewing them.
Mr. Burnett says a common refrain among the Convention Center survivors was, “they brought us here to kill us.” He also repeats many of the extremely disturbing stories he collected, including this one:
“…They told of a woman who died in childbirth along with her baby one night, her screams echoing throughout the cavernous lobby…”
John Burnett, Sept. 15, in his NPR report, ‘Hell on Earth’ at the Convention Center.
If this heart-rending report is true, then the number of alleged deaths of children goes from two (as reported by Brian Thevenot) to three.
As I posted on September 11, New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass said no children’s bodies were found among the dead in the Convention Center.
Police reject ‘vicious rumors’ of dead children; no confirmed sexual assaults
NEW ORLEANS (CNN) — New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass rejected what he called “vicious rumors” Friday that bodies of dead children had been found inside the convention center, where Hurricane Katrina evacuees stayed for days.
“We have swept the entire convention center,” he said, and no children were found dead.
CNN, The latest on Katrina’s aftermath, September 7, 2005
Yet Mr. Burnett repeated one of those “vicious rumors” when he included his interview with a young woman named Darice Bailey (I do not have a transcript of the broadcast, so the spelling of her name may be incorrect.)
The one death that stood out to most of the people I spoke with was that of a young girl, whose name no one knew. Darice Bailey is a 24-year-old medical technician who was stranded at the Convention Center with a co-worker. She had also evacuated to Austin.
[Darice Bailey begins speaking]
“In one of the bathrooms, you had a little girl, she could have been maybe 13, she had her, her neck was slit, her clothes were, um, like ripped, so she could’ve been, I could’ve think she could’ve been raped. She was lifeless.”
From John Burnett’s interview with Darice Bailey in ‘Hell on Earth’ at the Convention Center.
Both of these stories appear to have been repeated by more than one person to reporter John Burnett. Unfortunately, no one seems to have told him, “I actually saw the body/bodies.” This is even less confirmation than we got from Brian Thevenot’s interview with Mikel Brooks, where at least Mr. Thevenot reported he saw a “smaller human figure under the white sheet.”
Ms. Bailey’s recounting also leaves us unsure as whether she actually witnessed the 13-year-old’s “lifeless” body, torn throat, or ripped clothing.
Mr. Burnett could not give his listeners a definitive Convention Center body count, either.
The exact death toll is unknown. Police say they recovered four to six bodies. Evacuees told of scores of corpses. News reports put the body count as high as 24.
John Burnett, ‘Hell on Earth’ at the Convention Center
I wish Mr. Burnett had pushed a little harder. For “the one death that stood out to most of the people” he spoke with, he could’ve at least done a little more research to flesh it out.
At the very least, he should’ve mentioned Eddie Compass’ statement that NO children’s bodies were found in the Convention Center. He certainly had plenty of time to get such information from the newspapers. Compass made his “vicious rumors” statement on Sept. 7, and Burnett’s NPR report aired today, Sept. 15.
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