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1993-02-28
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PART 2 of 2
Florio declined to term the blast part of a new chapter in
international terrorism, "but I think all of us have a
responsibility to make sure we find out."
Officials with the U.S. Secret Service, which parks a fleet of
cars on the parking level where the blast originated, said three
agents were injured and several cars damaged.
At the White House, spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers said it was
"speculative" to discuss whether foreign groups may have been
responsible and also said "there is no evidence to suggest" the
attack was aimed at the Secret Service.
She declined to say whether extra security precautions had been
taken for the president, but canine dogs were seen sniffing all
vehicles entering the White House grounds Saturday, including staff
personal cars, which are normally exempt.
President Clinton is scheduled to visit New Jersey on Monday.
Officials said commodity markets located in the Trade Center, which
closed early Friday because of smoke conditions, would not reopen
Monday. It was not known when the buildings' fire and emergency
systems would be restored and structural security assured so
business could resume.
Some 50,000 people work at the World Trade Center, a 16-acre
patch of land in the heart of the city's financial center, and an
average of 100, 000 people visit each day.
Four hours after the explosion, a bomb threat was made against
the Empire State Building, and police ordered all occupants out of
the landmark building.
Deputy Mayor Norman Steisel said four people in an office complex
on the same sub-basement level as the source of the blast were
killed and 15 were injured. One person died at a Manhattan hospital.
Steisel said 450 of the injured people, including 44
firefighters, 35 police officers and one EMS worker, were taken by
ambulance to area hospitals, while 416 others sought hospital
treatment on their own. Another 176 were treated and released at the
scene.
Thousands of workers in the high-rise, their faces streaked with
soot, streamed out onto surrounding streets, some after walking down
100 flights of stairs for more than an hour after the explosion.
Dozens of people were trapped in stuck elevators for as many as
seven hours, and rescue crews checked the 110-story towers
floor-by-floor for others trapped in offices.
About a dozen kindergarten children from Brooklyn were stuck in
an elevator or five hours while on an outing to the observation
deck. All were rescued safely.
In one dramatic rescue, a police helicopter hovered over the roof
of one of the towers and officers hoisted a pregnant woman and five
others into the aircraft to safety.
The blast occurred at about 12:18 p.m. on the second of six
parking garage levels, destroying vehicles, collapsing floors, and
starting a fire that was extinguished quickly but produced a great
deal of smoke.