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Waco Continued from Page 1 said two survivors were injured criti cally, one had a serious injury and three have minor injuries, all includ ing bums. One person taken into cus tody told authorities that people in side the compound had set the blaze, Stem said. The person said that as he left one of the buildings, “he could hear above him people saying, ‘The fire’s been lit, the fire’s been lit,”’ Stem said. “We can only assume it was a massive loss of life,” FBI spokesman Bob Ricks said in a solemn afternoon news conference. Ricks said multiple witnesses spot ted cult members setting several fires. FBI agents reported seeing a man wearing a gas mask and black uni form throw something inside, fol lowed by a fireball. Additionally, Ricks said, a man found Monday af ternoon in a bunker on the grounds said lantern fuel had been spread throughout the wooden complex and that the fire was started simultaneously in several places. Koresh had warned the FBI in a letter last week that agents would be “devoured by fire” if they tried to harm him. A maze of tunnels was believed to run under the complex, but Jack Killorin, a spokesman in Washington for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said the agency be lieved no tunnel system would have allowed people to surv've the fire. “It’s a bad end and one of the ends we feared from the beginning,” Killorin said. “Obviously, suicide was a concern all along, but the method was different, unexpected.” Attorney General Janet Reno ap proved the assault and informed Presi dent Clinton. The FBI notified the compound's neighbors before day break “that it would end today,” ac cording to Melanie Felton, a nearby rancher. Late in the day, Reno said the FBI’s assault had been carefully planned over several days. She added that she “could not give the president that assurance” that the agents could prevent a mass suicide such as the cyanide poisoning that killed 913 people at Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. The fire erupted while television cameras provided live coverage of an armored vehicle battering a hole into the compound’s first story. Moments before, the mother of one cult mem ber had voiced her fear in a telephone interview about what might happen. “It’s impossible to know how he (Koresh) will respond,” said Balenda Ganem, mother of cult member David Thibodeau. “When you’reunder great stress and great fear, you rarely re spond responsibly. We hope he will.” Thibodeau was one of the eight survivors. Agents in the predawn tear gas assault were met by gunfire, at least 75-80rounds, the FBI said. The agents continued ripping holes in compound .buildings throughout the morning, and at a 10:30 a.m. session with reporters, Ricks spoke calmly about the deci sion to force Koresh and his followers out “The action taken today was, we believe, the next logical step in a series of actions to bnng this episode to a conclusion,” Ricks said. Ricks also said authorities believed the tear-gassing was the best way to avert a possible mass suicide, because it would “cause confusion inside the compound.” Barely 90 minutes later, billowing flames and smoke began spewing from the sprawling rural compound. Fire department units had to be summoned and arrived about 12:30 p.m. Ricks later refused to second-guess the decision not to have firefighters on the scene, explaining that gunfire from cultisls and explosives stored in the compound would have put them at risk. Reaction Continued from Page 1 Firearms agents. “It appeared an arrest could have been made outside of the compound when they were shopping in town,” he said. “Some have argued that we could have put a fence around it and called it a prison and let them come out when they come out.” Professor Larry Walklin, chair of the broadcasting department in the College of Journalism, said Koresh saw the media as an avenue to spread his ideas, and law enforcement offi cials welcomed his early conversa tions with radio stations. “If one of those people call some where, the people that put them on try to engage them into conversation,” he said. “The police would rather have them do that because they are talking as opposed to something else.” Hostage situations arc difficult to cover, he said. If one radio station would have refused to grant the inter view, Korcsh could have gone to a different station or newspaper, Walklin said. Eskridge said the crisis warranted news coverage, but there was a fine line between facts and sensational ism. “The press has an entertainment function,” he said. “I’m not sure we see true reporting, but the need to sec 80 persons dead should make the front page.” The press should have downplayed the issue, he said. “They were molded by him, they were putty in his hands,” he said. “As we speak, Hollywood will have * David Koresh the movie.’” S. Dakota governor dies in plane crash DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP)—A plane carrying South Dakota Gov. George Mickelson and seven other people crashed in eastern Iowa after report ing engine failure Monday. There were no survivors, a sheriff said. Mickelson’s body wasn't immedi ately identified. However, Dick Vohs, an aide to Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, said the airplane’s passenger list in cluded Mickelson. Janclle Toman, press secretary for Mickelson, con firmed Mickelson was on the plane. “What a tragedy. Wc lost the heart out of South Dakota,” said the Dcmo craiicjcadcr of the South Dakota Sen ate, Roger McKellips. The other victims were Roger Hainjc, director of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation; state Eco nomic Development Commissioner Roland Dolly; state Energy Policy Commissioner Ron Reed; S ioux Falls banker Dave Birkcland; Angus Anson of Northern States Power Co. in Sioux Falls; and two pilots from Pierre, S.D., Ron Becker and Dave Hansen. Former South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow said he knew all those aboard the plane. “Angus Anson worked for me. Dave Hansen was my security chief, and Ron Becker was my pilot. He taught me how to fly," Janklow said. “Everyone of these people was a leader." Mickelson’s death means Li. Gov. Walter Dale Miller takes over the governor’s office. Mickelson, the son of former Gov. George T. Mickelson, followed his father’s political footsteps and was elected South Dakota’s governor in 1986. His father was governor from 1947to 1951. Mickelson, 51, a Republican, was serving his second term. He was elected governor in 1986 and won another four-year term in 1990. He also served six years in the South Dakota House, where he was speaker in 1979-80. The plane was returning to South Dakota from Cincinnati when it crashed after reporting engine trouble. The twin-engine turboprop had been headed for an emergency land ing at the Dubuque airport when it struck a bam and silo about 15 miles southwest of Dubuque at about 4 p.m., said Sandra Campbell, a spokes woman at the Federal Aviation Ad ministration regional office at Kansas City, Mo. A flight plan filed earlier listed eight people aboard, she said. “We were notified by the highway patrol that seven have been confirmed dead. They ’ re searching for a possible eighth person who was aboard,” Mrs. Net?ra&kan Editor Chris Hoplanaperger Night News Editors «aphan»a Purdy 472-17SS, **•>-•»* Managing Editor Alan Phatpf «,tt» . rnyjSu *«»«». aap Editorial Page Editor Jeremy FtUpetrick " ' \Mre Editor Tadd Cooper KMhaitea Pottoky aEr **. asss MtEmwnranl puWcUM DouaEMto Diversions Editor Kim Spurlock _ . _„_ SJTiSLm. Photo Chief KUey flmpertey Professional Advieer OtonWeRon FAX NUMBER 472-1781 \ _ The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144-080) ispubkahed breaks Union 34.1400 R St . Lincoln, NE. Monday tupugh Friday during the academic year. ^^Ree^rsweeno^raged to submit story IdeedandqorTwnerita torn* mr Campbell said. The Mitsubishi turboprop corpo rate plane is registered to the Depart ment of Transportation of the slate of South Dakota. ‘‘The pilot reported a lost engine and lost pressurization. The aircraft then was handed off to the Dubuque tower for clearance to land. It was the nearest location,” Mrs. Campbell said. “It was cleared to land. About a minute after the last transmission, the Dubuque tower reported to the sheriff the aircraft was down on the ground,” she said. Heavy rain was reported in the area at the time, but the FA A said it had nol determined if it was a factor in the crash. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were en route to the crash site. fycept ion Services for Students with Disabilities invites all Notetakers and Readers to a Thank-you reception . Thursday, April 22,1993 7:00 to 8:30 pm NE Union Georgian Suite Refreshments will be served ‘ '1; •; Cud the cutt compound^ '•: :-m JProfile of the final hours of the Branch Javidian ait In WacopTexas;^ 6 a.m.: Armored assault Federal CEV assault vehicle began punching holes in walls to deliver tear gas. 12:15 p.m.: Fire in compound Reportedly started by two members of the Branch Davidian cult. Blaze appeared to start directly above the main entrance. Firetrucks arrived at 12:38 p.m. B . , Mount Carmel Branch Davidian Q / Sources: U.S. Army Material Command; Waco Herald-Tribune; AP Jane's Armour and Artillery Ohio prison inmates turn a cellblock into fortress LUCAS VILLE, Ohio (AP) — In mates barricaded inside a state prison for more than a week hung a banner from a ccllblock window Monday saying they’re willing to end the stand off, but want to talk to a lawyer first. A newspaper reported that prison ers were arming themselves with makeshift weapons and may have booby-trapped some prison entrances. Authorities dug a trench on prison grounds looking for possible tunncLs dug by inmates. Bulldozers were brought there over the weekend after reports of tunneling, prisons spokes woman Sharron Komegay said. Inmates turned their ccllblock at the maximum-security Southern Ohio Correctional Facility into a fortress in case authorities decide to rush it, the Dayton Daily News said Monday. Rhonda Millhousc, a spokes woman for the slate prison system, said she could not confirm the report. About 450 inmates have held the cellblock since a riot on April 11, when they look eight guards hostage. At least seven inmates and one guard died. Two hostages were released last week. Does Your Heart Good. American H#art Association I I I I The banner made from a bedsheet read, in part: “State lying to public. We arc willing to end. Must first talk face-to-face with attorney.” The banner referred to attorney Niki Schwartz, who spoke with in mates Sunday. There was no indica tion when that meeting would be held, but Komegay said negotiations Mon day were ‘^positive.” The newspaper, quoting sources it did not identify, said prisoners were armed with knives, shovels, barbells and “zip” guns—handmade weapons made from nails and rubber bands. Some ccllblock entrances were believed to be booby-trapped, possi bly with makeshift arrows, the news paper said. Inmates also were thought to have tapped the prison’s gasoline supply and could have made fire bombs. About 1,000 mourners paid their last respects for the slain guard, Rob ert Vallandingham, 40, during a me morial service at a high school in his hometown of Min ford, about lOmiles cast of Lucasvillc. Everything you hear is true, i From classical to pops to )azz 1 the Telarc collection is pure M digital, if It was recorded. M you'll hear it. And If you want It. you'll M And It at Pickles.
