Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 27, 1993 TAG: 9302270225
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
BOMB ROCKS SKYSCRAPERS
A tremendous bomb explosion ripped through a basement parking garage of the gigantic World Trade Center on Friday, killing at least seven people and turning the twin towers into chimneys of choking smoke.The blast, apparently caused by a car bomb, shook the 110-story towers with earthquake-like power, collapsing several floors in the underground garage and tearing a hole in the ceiling of an adjoining subway. It ripped a 1,000-square-foot cavity three floors deep into the basement.
New York bomb squad members said Friday night that they discovered the presence of nitrates, a residue that they said confirmed the explosion was set off by plastic explosives.
"It was very similar to the bomb that blew up the Marine barracks in Beirut, but bigger," said a bomb squad expert.
Investigators from the FBI; the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and the New York bomb squad were crawling over the chaotic scene. Their work was being hindered by flooding in the basement.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said seven groups called police to claim responsibility.
One source told the Associated Press that one group, claiming to represent Croatian militants, called 15 minutes before the blast.
The New York Daily News reported that a Serbian group first claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Daily News said a person claiming to represent the Serbian Liberation Front telephoned police an hour after the explosion and warned of further attacks unless the United Nations and the United States ceased their relief efforts in Bosnia.
More than 700 people were reported injured, most from smoke inhalation.
Emergency Management Services officials said that hundreds of ambulances from as far away as New Jersey and Long Island transported more than 500 people to hospitals. More than 100 people were admitted to Beekman Downtown Hospital, a small hospital that was forced to convert a cafeteria into an emergency room to accommodate the rush.
An additional 200 people were treated in a triage unit that was set up on the 43rd floor of one of the center's twin towers.
Tens of thousands of office workers, gasping for breath and their faces black with soot, fled the world's second- and third-tallest buildings. Some, including a pregnant woman, were evacuated from the roofs by helicopters.
The Secret Service and several other federal agencies park their vehicles in the underground garage, which is open to the public. Government officials denied reports that the vehicles included an armored limousine used by the president when he visits New York.
"There was extensive damage done to a localized area," said Charles Meikish, director of the World Trade Center, which is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He said that the structure of the towers was unharmed.
"Two of the basement levels have been completely obliterated," said Sgt. Dan Carbonaro of the Port Authority police. "The B2 level and the B3 level are now on the B4 level."
The blast ripped a 180-by-12-foot hole in the ceiling of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson line, a subway that passes beneath the World Trade Center. Passengers on the platform were showered with concrete.
Lunchtime shoppers in the concourse levels below the center fled moments after the explosion.
There was little visible damage to the exterior of the gleaming stainless steel buildings, home to hundreds of brokerage houses, banks and trading concerns.
About 50,000 people work in the six buildings that comprise the World Trade Center. With the complex's 250 elevators out of commission, it took hours to evacuate them.
The explosion sent thick smoke shooting up through the ventilation systems and the elevator shafts of the 1,368-foot towers and the adjoining Vista International Hotel. Smoke poured from vents in the buildings.
Thousands of frightened office workers streamed from the towers, wheezing and rubbing soot from their faces.
Office workers complained that they heard no alarms nor received any evacuation instructions. They said that stairwells were filled with smoke and that emergency lights failed.
"There were no alarms and nobody to tell us what to do," said Mirthia Hernandez, a Port Authority employee.
Some office workers smashed windows to get fresh air, showering rescue workers on the streets with glass.
Those who made the long descent - some were pregnant or carried in wheelchairs - said there was little panic.
More than 70 children from a New York City elementary school were stuck for more than five hours in pitch-black elevators.
"They were very calm, much better than the adults," said Officer Jack Meyer, who rescued them. "The adults were pretty upset."
The explosion occurred near one of the basement transformers that powers the World Trade Center's extensive electrical system. Officials initially said the electrical device was the source of the blast.
But after surveying the extent of the damage, Meikish, the director of the World Trade Center, pronounced: "This is not a transformer explosion."
Keywords:
FATALITY