NEW ORLEANS (AFP) - Most of the stories of murder and gang violence at New Orleans' Superdome and Convention Center following Hurricane Katrina were false or greatly exaggerated, according to newspapers which conducted investigations into the reports.
The Times-Picayune, the New Orleans daily, and The Los Angeles Times published the results this week of separate probes into events at the Superdome and Convention Center and both determined that reports of violence at the hurricane shelters were wildly overstated.
"As the fog of warlike conditions in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath has cleared, the vast majority of reported atrocities committed by evacuees have turned out to be false, or at least unsupported by any evidence, according to key military, law enforcement, medical and civilian officials in positions to know," The Times-Picayune said.
"Four weeks after the storm, few of the widely reported atrocities have been backed with evidence. The piles of bodies never materialized, and soldiers, police officers and rescue personnel on the front lines say that although anarchy reigned at times and people suffered unimaginable indignities, most of the worst crimes reported at the time never happened."
The Times-Picayune, citing health and law enforcement officials, said six bodies were found inside the Superdome and four in the streets outside the stadium, where tens of thousands of people sought shelter as Hurricane Katrina hammered the city on August 29.
Four of the deaths at the Superdome were due to natural causes, the paper said, while one was a suicide and one an overdose. Four bodies were found at the Convention Center, The Times-Picayune said. One of the four appeared to have been murdered.
Citing officials, The Los Angeles Times reported identical figures for the number of bodies recovered from the Superdome and Convention Center.
"Follow-up reporting has discredited reports of a seven-year-old being raped and murdered at the Superdome, roving bands of armed gang members attacking the helpless, and dozens of bodies being shoved into a freezer at the Convention Center," The Los Angeles Times said.
The Times-Picayune quoted a National Guardsman who assisted with security at the Superdome as dismissing the reports of widespread violence.
"Don't get me wrong, bad things happened, but I didn't see any killing and raping and cutting of throats or anything. ... Ninety-nine percent of the people in the Dome were very well-behaved," said Sergeant Jason Lachney.
Orleans Parish district attorney Eddie Jordan said there were four confirmed murders in the aftermath of Katrina, a typical week in a city that averages over 200 murders a year.
"I had the impression that at least 40 or 50 murders had occurred at the two sites," he said. "It's unfortunate we saw these kinds of stories saying crime had taken place on a massive scale when that wasn't the case."
The newspapers said New Orleans officials themselves were partly responsible for the impression that violence raged unchecked at the Superdome and Convention Center.
In television interviews, New Orleans police chief Eddie Compass reported rapes of "babies" and Mayor Ray Nagin said "hundreds of armed gang members" were killing and raping at the Superdome.
"While the Convention Center saw plenty of mischief, including massive looting and isolated gunfire, and many inside cowered in fear, the hordes of evacuees for the most part did not resort to violence, as legend has it," The Times-Picayune said.
The Times-Picayune said one widely circulated had proved to be "demonstrably false." "No one found the body of a girl -- whose age was estimated at anywhere from 7 to 13 -- who, according to multiple reports, was raped and killed with a knife to the throat at the Convention Center," it said.
