FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Dan and Janice Kovacs and their two children were passing through airport security when the gunfire erupted. They were shoeless – with wallets, passports and carry-on items chugging along a conveyer belt – when they sprang into the mass of people running to safety.
Now they’re among stranded travelers at Fort Lauderdale trying to recover what the airport director says are 25,000 pieces of luggage, cellphones and other belongings separated from their owners during Friday’s shooting rampage.
Five people were killed and six were wounded in the the shooting Friday afternoon. About 12,000 outgoing and incoming travelers were stranded, many returning from cruises or arriving ahead of the usual Saturday departures of the massive ships based in the tourism hub’s Port Everglades terminal.