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By LEANN McCOY
Staff Writer
The motel fire that killed four Mississippi University for Women students on Jan. 16 was ruled an accident Thursday by investigators.
The victims were identified as 18-year-old cousins, Alondan “Angel” Turner and Catherine Ann Muse of Cordova, Ala.; Jamelia “Meme” Brown, 18, of Grenada; and Jaslynn McGee, 19, of Corinth, Miss.
The women were staying at a Days Inn Motel in Hoover, Ala., where they had gone to shop.
According to Associated Press news reports, investigators said the fire was likely caused by incense a maintenance man was burning in a room right below where the four women were staying.
The maintenance worker, identified as Dhirajlal Bhagat, 55, was taken into custody by immigration officials. No charges will be filed in the blaze itself, but Bhagat could be deported to his native India for overstaying a work permit that expired in November 2007, said Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis.
According to the AP report, authorities said Bhagat told investigators he lit incense in his cluttered room and left for 30 minutes.
When he returned, his room was ablaze, and he tried twice to use small extinguishers to douse the flames, but failed, he said to investigators, according to AP reports.
According to Jim Cavanaugh, a supervisory agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the fire engulfed the wood-frame structure that was built in the 1960s and lacked a sprinkler system.
He said one of the victims dialed 911 and told a dispatcher, ‘“There’s a fire completely in front of our room.”’
The rescue was further complicated by the fact the nearest fire hydrant was down a steep hill from the motel.
Ed Paul, Alabama’s state fire marshal, said the intense heat from a wall of flame prevented the women from escaping the room and kept firefighters from reaching them, according to an Associated Press story.
An autopsy showed that the victims died from smoke inhalation. All four were found in the bathroom, farthest away from the fire.
Muse was majoring in theater. Brown and McGee were majoring in pre-nursing, and Turner was majoring in accounting.
The funeral for Brown was held Saturday at 2 p.m. at Grenada High School auditorium.
All four were in Hoover, Ala. for weekend shopping.
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Submitted By:
Jan
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Submitted:
1/26/2010
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Submitted By:
Know Your Rights
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Submitted:
1/26/2010
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Submitted By:
Just curious
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Submitted:
1/26/2010
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