Texas A&M Not Responsible For Bonfire Deaths And Injuries, Federal Court Rules

Wednesday, April 25th 2007, 9:32 pm

By: News On 6

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- Texas A&M University officials cannot be held responsible for the death of 12 students and injury of others in the 1999 bonfire collapse, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Victims and relatives had sued the university, claiming A&M officials created a dangerous event but were indifferent to student safety.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision that the concept of "state-created danger" was not established law before the accident.

The bonfire has been built and burned since 1909 on the eve of A&M's annual football game with its archrival, the University of Texas. In November 1999, the 59-foot-high stack of more than 5,000 logs collapsed as students were building it, killing 12 and
injuring 27. Students and alumni have carried on the tradition off campus since the accident.