WEST WARWICK / 11:20 a.m. -- Friends and family members of missing
nightclub patrons traveled from hospital to hospital today, desperately
looking for their loved ones.
Doug and Barbara Magness began searching for their son and
daughter-in-law after the fire ripped through The Station nightclub late
last night, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 150 others.
They were looking for Steven Mancini, 39, and his wife, Andrea Mancini,
28. Both work at the nightclub, checking patrons' identification.
The Magnesses were at Kent County Memorial Hospital in Warwick most of
the night. They then went to Rhode Island Hospital looking for the
Mancinis, to no avail.
"It's very trying not to know where they are," Barbara Magness said.
Though a relative may have seen Steven Mancini covered in a blanket
standing in a crowd in footage from the fire, "it's very agonizing
because we have no clue," Barbara Magness said.
About 100 people gathered at a family support center set up at the
Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick by the Red Cross. Grief counselors and
clergy members were on hand.
One father got some good news at the hotel: He went there for
information about his missing daughter and learned she was safe.
"Her father was here and we were able to tell him she was fine, `Go call
your wife,' and everybody cheered," said Nick Logothets, director of
disaster services for the local Red Cross.
Penny Lyons, 42, went to the center looking for information on a friend
of her husband's she has known for 18 years.
"I'm just so upset and nervous," she said. "It's just a really bad
tragedy."
Nick Logothets, director of disaster services for the Red Cross of Rhode
Island, said it was difficult to get in touch with people who were
trying to match up their loved ones.
One father got some good news at the hotel. He went there for
information about his daughter, who was missing, and found out she was
safe.
"Her father was here, and we were able to tell him, 'She was fine. Go
call your wife,' and everybody cheered," Logothets said.
