Heat Sparks Concern for Mandela Crowds
Organizers of Nelson Mandela’s visit to Los Angeles were becoming concerned about the thousands of people who could spend hours Friday morning waiting in scorching heat for a noon speech by Mandela on the steps of City Hall.
A pre-speech program is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. and a crowd is expected to start gathering long before then. Temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday were in the hundreds before noon.
Willis Edwards, who is in charge of advance logistics for the local Nelson Mandela Reception Committee, said the committee was trying to determine how to provide water for such a large crowd. Two thousand seats, he said, were being provided for older and disabled people. Also, Alan Cowen, commander of the city Fire Department’s Bureau of Paramedics, said emergency medical services technicians and medical transport trucks would be on hand to handle any emergencies.
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