Dozens Injured in Rush for Georgia Housing Aid

(Aug. 12) -- Police showed up in riot gear. People collapsed from the heat. And emergency vehicles ferried victims to the hospital.

That was the scene Wednesday at the Tri-Cities Plaza Shopping Center in East Point, Ga., after 30,000 people showed up to apply for government housing assistance, sparking chaotic scenes in which dozens were injured.

Today everything appeared under control as Section 8 hopefuls returned their applications. In a bid to reduce crowding, authorities accepted applications from people's cars as they drove by. Separate facilities dealt with applicants on foot.

Trouble began Wednesday when three times as many applicants as expected arrived at the suburban Atlanta location and tempers began to flare among the crush of people waiting in the intense heat.

"It was terrible," witness Thaddeus Brookins told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Lot of people. People pushing people, knocking people over. People getting hurt."

Authorities originally planned to have applicants come into the front entrance of a cafe to get their applications. When they saw the size of the crowd, they set up kiosks in the parking lot.

As the day wore on, applicants began cutting into lines, and police tried to move large groups of people around to maintain order. The groups, many of whom had been waiting in line for hours, reacted angrily.

"It could have been better organized," applicant Renee Gray, who was on the scene with her 1-year-old daughter, said. "A lot of adults lost focus."

The crowds were there to apply for federal subsidies to rent or buy a home. This was the first time since 2002 that the East Point Housing Authority has offered the applications.

The crowd was equal to about three-fourths of East Point's entire population. Authorities blamed the disorder on the fact that many applicants brought along several family members and even dogs, swelling the crowd, CNN reported.

As many as sixty-two people were injured, with 20 taken to the hospital, including one baby that had a seizure. There were reports of two small children being trampled in the pandemonium, according to the Journal-Constitution.

Still, authorities said they handled the situation competently, even if some people were shaken by the experience.

"As you can imagine, this large of a crowd did have some instances of 'being out of control,'" City Councilman Lance Rhodes said in an e-mail to residents, CNN reported. "However, the police and fire were in control. This is evidenced by the fact that no arrests were made."

There are currently 15,000 Georgians who take advantage of Section 8 housing, and thousands more are on waiting lists.

The situation is aggravated by the closure of several large public-housing projects and the fact that the recession has pushed many formerly middle-class families into a position where they need government assistance to put a roof over their heads.

"It's heartbreaking to see what the economy has done," Housing Authority Executive Director Kim Lemish told The Associated Press.