New Orleans nursing home owners charged over hurricane drownings

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2005

BATON ROUGE, United States (AFP) — The owners of a New Orleans nursing home where 34 people drowned in Hurricane Katrina floodwaters have been been charged with homicide for the deaths, authorities said.

The owners of St. Rita's nursing home in St. Bernard Parish surrendered to state authorities on Tuesday, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti told a press conference.

Mable Mangano, 62, and Salvador Mangano Sr., 65, are each charged with 34 counts of negligent homicide, Foti said.

"They did not follow the standard of care that a reasonable person would follow in similar circumstances," the state's attorney general said.

Foti also said the state was investigating the deaths of 45 people at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center hospital. The 45...