COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M University is preparing to mark the 10th anniversary of the bonfire collapse that killed 12 people and injured 27.
Students and others were building the 59-foot tower of logs in an annual football season tradition when it came crashing down early Nov. 18, 1999.
About 10,000 people are expected Tuesday night at A&M’s basketball arena for a ceremony remembering the accident.
At 2:42 a.m. Wednesday, the exact time of the accident, a candlelight vigil will be held at the collapse site that is now home to a circular memorial.
Up to 70,000 people would gather on campus each year to watch the lighting of the bonfire on the eve of the school’s November football game against its archrival, the University of Texas.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
