European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 5, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a the stars and stripes thursday september 5, 1991locked doors added to horror in fire Hamlet . A screaming workers pounded and kicked locked exit doors As fire swept a Chicken processing Plant killing 25 people and injuring 49. The 11-Ycar-old Plant had never been inspected. A a whole lot of people were in one Little Corner just pushing trying to make a Hole in the Wall a said worker Letha Terry. Quot i thought i was gone until a Man broke the lock off the door. I thank the lord i got out hut a whole lot of people got  the Blaze tuesday at the Imperial food products Plant erupted when a Hydraulic line ruptured near a 26-foot-Long deep fat Fryer and the spilled fluid caught fire said Charles Dunn Deputy director of the slate Bureau of investigation. L ire chief David Fuller would not confirm witnesses reports that All but one of nine exits were locked or blocked. Ella Mae Blackstock and other workers said the company kept doors locked a so people could t steal their  a certain doors Are locked at certain times Quot said Brad Roe operations manager and son of Plant owner Emmett i. Roe. A i can t Tell you which doors were locked if any were  ski agent Neil Godfrey said the designated tire doors were unlocked but other exits were impassable including those closest to the fire. A obviously there May be some compliance problems a he said. However a door with a sign saying a fire door do not Block Quot was seen padlocked. Blackened footprints were on one door after the Blaze. Some workers could be heard screaming helplessly and eventually perished witnesses said. Some victims were found near exits and others were found in a meat locker where they had tied Fuller said. About 90 of Imperial foods 200 employees were in the Plant when the fire erupted about 8 30 a.m., the company said. Authorities said 25 people were killed and hospitals reported at least 49 injured. A you can Tell by the look of the people that its a tragedy beyond belief a mayor Lulu Smith gels help from her husband Ronnie after learning her Mother was one of the 25 workers killed in the food Plant fire. Abbie Covington said. A in a Small town its always somebody a neighbor or somebody a  one fireman found his father dead said Joey Jernigan a town councilman. Imperial food is the towns largest employer. Hamlet in South Central North Carolina has a population of about 6,91 0. The Plant which makes Chicken nuggets and marinated Chicken breasts sold at fast food restaurants and grocery stores was never inspected by the state because there Are not enough inspectors said Charles Jetress. Assistant commissioner of the North Carolina department of labor. The state focuses on plants that have safety complaints and none had Ever been filed against Imperial he said. The state fire code does not specify How often a Plant should be  orders rape depositions not be released in Smith Case West Palm Beach Fla. Apr the judge in William Kennedy Smith s rape Case told prosecutors tuesday not to release the depositions of three other women who claim Smith sexually assaulted them. Circuit judge Mary Lupo said she wants to privately review the depositions before deciding whether they can be made Public or admitted As evidence. A i done to want the Community further polluted without reviewing in advanced the depositions she said. Smith 30, a Nephew of . Sen. Edward m. Kennedy d-mass., faces trial Jan. 13 on charges he raped a woman March 30 at his family a Palm Beach estate. Defense attorney Roy Black warned the judge that publicity is ruining Smiths chances for a fair trial. He said it has become so bad Quot the Only possible remedy is going to be a dismissal of the  Lupo denied two motions by Smith s attorneys tuesday seeking new restrictions on news Media Access to pretrial information in the Case. Bui she agreed to Block release of materials sought by news groups including the associated press until 5 . Thursday giving Smith s attorneys time to Appeal. The materials include about 20 depositions front police investigators a rape Counselor and a doctor and nurse who examined Smith s accuser now 30, after the alleged rape. Prosecutors on july 22 said they planned to Call the three other women As witnesses. They earlier released sworn statements they took from the women. One woman now a new Jersey medical student says Smith raped her while she was drunk at his Washington apartment in 1988. Another now a doctor says she talked Smith into halting an attack in 1988. A third says she fought off Smith in a 1983 assault in his family a new York Home. The women said in their sworn statements that they never reported the alleged attacks to police. In Iii attorneys have predicted the women s testimony wont be allowed because of strict guidelines on use of Quot other crimes testimony Quot which can of highly prejudicial against a  Gas buildup blamed in Brooklyn fire that killed 3 by the new Yurk times new York a a buildup of natural Gas probably caused the explosion and fire that killed three people and injured 31 in two Brooklyn apartment buildings on monday fire officials said tuesday. For much of the Day Rescue workers searched the rubble for a Man they believed to be missing but by evening they had hailed the search and officials said that everyone was accounted for. The thunderous blast Shook a wide Section of Bay Ridge just before 7 . Monday a Cool labor Day evening that had enticed dozens of neighbors onto the Stoops and sidewalks of the mostly residential Street. The Force of the blast knocked people off their feel shattered windows and blew doors off their hinges. One official sail that someone in one of the buildings on 86ih Street had tapped a Gas line illegally and that investigators were increasingly focusing on that As a source of the Gas. A a fire officials identified the three victims As Marie Overgaard 86. And Badea Badran 30, and Daniel Mccue. 60. The Force of the explosion hurled Gerard Thurlow 32, onto the Street where his leg was crushed by a mangled chunk of either a refrigerator or a stove fire officials said. Mccue was found beneath a pile of bricks on the sidewalk More than three hours after the explosion. The Street in front of the building remained in disarray crowded with fire trucks and Rescue vans and littered with shards of Glass and debris. Dora Idarraga stared numbly at a gaping Hole in the roof of her third Fioti apartment in the building next door. Quot if they threw a bomb it  have been that bad a said Idarraga u 42-year old Bank clerk who had been allowed it remove a few belongings from her devastated apartment. Firefighters also became in Basurt Hunters. Deputy fire commissioner Tom Kell said one Man told a fire chief that he Hai $16,000 in Cash hidden under a Rug ant some expensive jewelry in his refrigerator. Another resident was looking Tor it Strongbox which he said Coni Ainet $1,000 in Cash. By mid morning firefighters recovers $7,815 in Cash three Gold rings and to Gold charms Kelly said. A charred Strongbox was recovered by Kelly said its contents were reduced it Ash