by emad » Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:09 am
Penn accuses Bush amid rescue chaos <br>6 September 2005 <br><br>The US government was accused of "criminal negligence" as hopes of finding survivors faded and the death toll from Hurricane Katrina continued to rise.<br><br>Holidaymakers returning to the UK spoke of the scale of the misery while one said leering police officers demanded young women flash their breasts in return for help. <br> <br>Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Sean Penn, who has been assisting rescue efforts in New Orleans, said the US government did not "seem to be inclined to help".<br><br>"We were pulling drowning people out of the water, it's the ultimate distress and human suffering ... dead bodies," he told GMTV.<br><br>Penn said he had spent nine hours on Monday searching the water for people and during all that time he saw just three boats carrying US officials.<br><br>"There are people that are dying right now and I mean babies and old people and everybody in between - they're dying. There are people dying and (the US government are) not putting the boats in the water, I think that's criminal negligence. I don't think anybody ever anticipated the criminal negligence of the Bush administration in this situation."<br><br>The US authorities were also castigated by British bus driver Ged Scott, from Wallasey, Merseyside, who was on holiday in the New Orleans area.<br><br>He stayed in the Ramada Hotel during and after the devastation with his wife, Sandra, and seven-year-old son Ronan. At one stage, Mr Scott, 36, had to wade through filthy water to barricade the hotel doors against looters.<br><br>He told the Liverpool Daily Post: "I couldn't describe how bad the authorities were. Just little things like taking photographs of us, as we are standing on the roof waving for help, for their own little snapshot albums.<br><br>"At one point, there were a load of girls on the roof of the hotel saying 'Can you help us?' and the policemen said 'Show us what you've got' and made signs for them to lift their T-shirts. When the girls refused, they said 'Fine' and motored off down the road in their boat."<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/PA_NEWA12843661125997597A0?source=PA%20Feed&ct=5">www.thisislondon.com/news...0Feed&ct=5</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> <p></p><i></i>
