National digest 6/28/02

FBI and INS question Pakistani nationals

WASHINGTON -- About five dozen Pakistani nationals were interrogated in several cities across the nation in an FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service sweep meant to uncover illegal immigrants, a law enforcement official said Thursday.

The operation was conducted Wednesday at malls in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Atlanta, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The sweep targeted stores operated by Pakistanis.

Some of those interviewed were detained, the official said, declining to specify how many.

The official also refused to say if the sweep was related to terrorism.

Officials at the Immigration and Naturalization Service would not comment.

Red Cross selects new president

WASHINGTON -- The American Red Cross, stung by controversy over distribution of funds for victims of terrorism, named Marsha Johnson Evans, a retired Navy admiral, as its president Thursday.

The appointment comes months after the departure of Bernadine Healy, who said she was forced out by the charity's board in a dispute over policy.

Red Cross chairman David McLaughlin said "the last nine months have been some of the most difficult" for the organization. "This is a turning point."

Evans declined to address specific issues until after she takes office Aug. 5 and has time to study the various challenges in detail.

But, she said, there is a "enormous reservoir of trust" for the Red Cross in America. "We have to continuously add to that trust account on a day-by-day basis."

$10 million awarded over boy's drowning

NEW YORK -- A jury awarded $10 million to the family of a 14-year-old Bronx boy who drowned in a wave pool during a school field trip to a Pennsylvania amusement park in 1994.

The jury Wednesday held the city Board of Education 59 percent responsible for Daniel Maracallo's death and ordered it to pay $5.9 million. Dorney Park was held responsible for the rest.

Security guards found the eighth-grader dead in the 10-foot end of the pool several hours after he disappeared.

Friends said that they saw him pulled under and tried to get lifeguards to look for him but that their pleas were ignored. They later left the pool, mistakenly believing that the boy had gotten out safely.

-- From wire reports

When he did not show up for the bus at the end of the day, his classmates related the story to the assistant principal in charge of 137 students. The man helped search for the boy before finally getting on one of the buses and going home. The body was found later that night.

Thomas Moore, a lawyer for the Maracallo family, said the trip had no educational value and children were left to roam the 187-acre park.

"These were inner-city kids, most of them not strong swimmers," Moore said. "Common sense should have prevailed."

Dorney spokesman Chris Ozimek had no comment. A Board of Education spokeswoman did not immediately return a call.

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