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1993-02-28
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51 lines
02/27/1993 By NED KILKELLY
NEW YORK (UPI) -- Investigators sifting through the rubble from
the World Trade Center's deadly explosion have found traces of
nitrate, leading authorities Saturday to say the blast bore all the
markings of a terrorist bombing.
Police received 19 phone calls after the blast, the first more
than an hour later, from people claiming responsibility, but no
suspects were publically identified.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the calls were
"disjointed," but were being investigated.
Authorities said they received no warning prior to the blast that
tore into the heart of the nation's financial center.
Friday's explosion in an underground parking garage rocked the
base of the trade center's south tower, killing five, injuring 1,042
and trapping thousands of high-rise workers in stalled elevators,
smoke- filled stairwells and darkened offices for hours.
Two workers for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,
the public agency that oversees the center, were unaccounted for
Saturday and feared dead.
The earthquake-like force of the explosion blew out three floors
of the underground garage, creating a gaping 1,000-square-foot
crater that collapsed a subway station ceiling below and sparked a
fire above that sent thick black smoke throughout the twin
1,350-foot towers -- the city's tallest buildings.
Said a firefighter at the scene, "If it was (an explosive)
device, it was placed perfectly to cause as much damage to the
building as possible."
Gov. Mario Cuomo of New York and Gov. Jim Florio of New Jersey
joined Kelly at a news conference at police headquarters, along with
city, state and federal law enforcement authorities and
commissioners of all major city agencies.
Kelly said the nitrate discovery, coupled with the explosion's
magnitude and the amount of heat generated, "buttress" arguments
that only a bomb could have wrought such destruction.
Nitrate is a byproduct of several flammable substances and often
found in explosives.
"Those three factors lead us to conclude that it was a bomb,"
Kelly said. "We're not in a position now to say who the suspects
are."
Kelly said such answers would be delayed until heavy debris
around the blast site can be cleared so the criminal investigation
could proceed into the origin as well as the size and type of bomb.
Kelly said security directors of major buildings around the city,
as well as airports and other public facilities, have been warned to
tighten security in the explosion's aftermath.
"Obviously, we will vigorously investigate this callous, criminal
act," he said.
"It's difficult to imagine what else could have caused it but a
bomb," said Cuomo. "It looks like a bomb, it smells like a bomb,
it's probably a bomb."