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Enquiry reveals that Armadale victims were locked in
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Section of Armadale building that was burnt.
The Armadale Enquiry continued Tuesday with gruesome accounts of the fate the victims of the fire were met with on the night of May 22.
Left to the mercy of the flames and smoke, seven wards of the state died at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre.
The Commission heard testimony from two police officers from the Alexandria police station who explained that in the ensuing panic, opening the door to the dorm room was an afterthought.
The police officers said they managed to pull 17 girls through a back window as the fire raged.
During this time, Constable Lawrence Burrell said he kept asking for the keys to the dorm, but got no response.
He testified that it was much later that keys were handed to him.
He said he ran through a grilled door that had been cut by the girls as part of their escape plan that night, and then to the door of the dorm which was bolted from the outside.
This revelation was met with quiet gasps from the audience at the enquiry, as it was now clear that the girls could not have escaped the furnace unless someone from the outside opened the door.
And where were the warders in all of this this?
Woman Corporal Shaunette Dunkley testified that they were running around, panicking.
Eventually, firefighters managed to kick in the door as thick black smoke choked the room and flames licked at the ceiling.
Five motionless girls were found piled atop each other under a window.
By the time the critically injured wards were taken to the Alexandria Community Hospital, they were dead.
Eighteen others were taken to hospital, two died several days later.
The issue of how the fire started again came up, with Constable Burrell declaring he never threw tear gas into the room where the 23 girls were that night.
He admitted that he did have what is called a "booming ball" which contains tear gas, clipped to the front of his polo shirt, but never used it.
Queen's Counsel Howard Hamilton representing the Office of the Public Defender, disputed this after Constable Burrell admitted that following the fire he could not produce the intact tear gas ball.
Much to the satisfaction of the lawyers, Woman Corporal Dunkley also told the hearing that in the fire's aftermath, three girls said tear gas had indeed been thrown into their room.
But Corporal Dunkley also testified that she overheard the girls saying one of the deceased, Shawna Lee Kerr, had set fire to a mattress.
The Commission is expect to hear expert evidence about tear gas cannisters and whether they can spark fires.
The enquiry continues Wednesday.
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Section of Armadale building that was burnt.
The Armadale Enquiry continued Tuesday with gruesome accounts of the fate the victims of the fire were met with on the night of May 22.
Left to the mercy of the flames and smoke, seven wards of the state died at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre.
The Commission heard testimony from two police officers from the Alexandria police station who explained that in the ensuing panic, opening the door to the dorm room was an afterthought.
The police officers said they managed to pull 17 girls through a back window as the fire raged.
During this time, Constable Lawrence Burrell said he kept asking for the keys to the dorm, but got no response.
He testified that it was much later that keys were handed to him.
He said he ran through a grilled door that had been cut by the girls as part of their escape plan that night, and then to the door of the dorm which was bolted from the outside.
This revelation was met with quiet gasps from the audience at the enquiry, as it was now clear that the girls could not have escaped the furnace unless someone from the outside opened the door.
And where were the warders in all of this this?
Woman Corporal Shaunette Dunkley testified that they were running around, panicking.
Eventually, firefighters managed to kick in the door as thick black smoke choked the room and flames licked at the ceiling.
Five motionless girls were found piled atop each other under a window.
By the time the critically injured wards were taken to the Alexandria Community Hospital, they were dead.
Eighteen others were taken to hospital, two died several days later.
The issue of how the fire started again came up, with Constable Burrell declaring he never threw tear gas into the room where the 23 girls were that night.
He admitted that he did have what is called a "booming ball" which contains tear gas, clipped to the front of his polo shirt, but never used it.
Queen's Counsel Howard Hamilton representing the Office of the Public Defender, disputed this after Constable Burrell admitted that following the fire he could not produce the intact tear gas ball.
Much to the satisfaction of the lawyers, Woman Corporal Dunkley also told the hearing that in the fire's aftermath, three girls said tear gas had indeed been thrown into their room.
But Corporal Dunkley also testified that she overheard the girls saying one of the deceased, Shawna Lee Kerr, had set fire to a mattress.
The Commission is expect to hear expert evidence about tear gas cannisters and whether they can spark fires.
The enquiry continues Wednesday.