Raleigh, N.C. — All but one of the South Carolina college students killed last month in a house fire at Ocean Isle Beach had alcohol in their systems, the North Carolina medical examiner reported Friday.
The local prosecutor said he does not think it played any role in their deaths, however.
Dr. John Butts said six of the seven victims had blood alcohol concentrations ranging from 0.16 to 0.29 when they died. The legal limit for driving in North Carolina is 0.08, and Butts said the alcohol concentrations might have affected the students' coordination.
Brunswick County District Attorney Rex Gore said it was common for students to drink at the beach. Gore said alcohol played no part in the Oct. 28 blaze, noting that one of the students killed had no alcohol.
Cassidy Fae Pendley, 18; Lauren Astrid Kristiana Mahon, 18; Justin Michael Anderson, 19; Travis Lane Cale, 19; Allison Walden, 18; William Rhea, 18; and Emily Lauren Yelton, 18, died in their sleep from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning, Butts said earlier this month.
All of the victims, except Yelton, attended the University of South Carolina. She went to Clemson University.
Six other USC students were able to escape from the burning house and survived the fire.
Investigators' preliminary investigation found that the fire likely started on the back deck of the house at 1 Scotland St., but because of the extensive damage, it was impossible for investigators to determine an exact cause.
It's possible, however, that the fire could have started from improperly discarded smoking materials, they said. There was no indication the fire was set.
Alcohol Didn't Factor in Beach-House Fire Deaths, DA Says
RELATED TOPICS: Brunswick County, Scotland County
Copyright 2011 by WRAL.com and the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Let's see. You have a wealthy father and a DA who's afraid to tell the truth of what happened. When you are drunk with a blood alcohol content two to three times the legal limit, you are not going to be woke up by a smoke detector if a fire starts. Once again we have a wealthy father getting a DA to protect his spoiled brat. Unfortunately the brat is dead this time.
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