World Trade Center 1993 bombing

Before the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, emergency incidents were primarily or generally thought to be caused by natural or accidental events. Examples of natural phenomena (events) include wildfires, flash floods, earthquakes, active volcanoes, droughts, and storms. These natural events are not entirely predictable, and they cannot yet be controlled or prevented (Meyer 2004). 

Frederic Whitehurst, FBI Lab Whisdeblower, testifying in the World Trade Center Bombing Trial, 14 August 1995 (http //www.usdoj.gov/oig/fbilab/04wtc97.htm). 

By current practice, large quantities of AN are never accumulated or exposed to heat or fires. However, fertilizer storage warehouses still explode occasionally, and AN has become a popular, inexpensive, and readily available material for terrorists, for example, in the World Trade Center bombing in New York City in 1992 and the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. 

Mykoie, L. (1995/96). The World Trade Center Bomb Who Is Ramzi Yousef And Why It Matters. The National Interest. Winter. Available from URL http //www.fas.org/irp/wporld/iraq/956-tni.htm (accessed January 2007). 

Vehicle bombs have been used in the Middle East for many years and are very common there now, but they were not observed in the United States until the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. 

The First World Trade Center Bombing Aum Shinrikyo Taking the Toll... 

The first case of an A1 Qaeda terrorist attack linked to chemical terrorism is tiie February 1993 World Trade Center bombing, as it is commonly believed that the explosives were mixed with a cyanide compound. The reason is that during the trial the judge stated "You had sodium cyanide around, and I m sure it was in the bomb. Thank God the sodium cyanide burned instead of vaporizing. If the sodium cyanide had vaporized, it is clear what would have happened is the cyanide gas would have been sucked into the north tower and everybody in the north tower would have been killed. That to my mind is exactly what was intended" (Parachini, 2000). 

On March 3,1993, a typewritten communication received at The New York Times noted that the World Trade Center was bombed in the name of Allah. Mohammad Salameh, Nidel Ayyad, Ahmad Ajaj, and Mahmud Abouhalima were all identified as suspects and later found guilty after a 6-month trial. 

Urea nitrate (UN), more properly called uronium nitrate, is an energetic salt, and as such would not be expected to have much vapour pressure however, it might be detectable due to evolved urea or nitrogen oxides. Detection of urea nitrate is essential because for over a decade it has been a frequent choice of terrorists. It was used in the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City (Februaryl 993) and in many car bombings in Palestine. In 1992, the use of urea nitrate became so prevalent in bombings by the Shining Path that sales of urea were outlawed in Peru. 

Urea nitrate secured its place on the U.S. landscape by being the explosive used in the World Trade Center (WTC) bombing in February of 1993. Although it was not commonly seen in the United States at the time, terrorist groups in other parts of the world had long since known about it. Both the Shining Path in Peru and numerous mideastern terrorists utilized UNi in their attacks well before the WTC incident. The use by the Shining Path was so predominant that sales of urea were outlawed in Peru in 1992 to curtail explosive production. 

Finally, urea nitrate can be taken one step further chemically. Through the process of dehydration (chemical removal of water), urea nitrate can be transformed into nitrourea (NH2CONH-NO2). Typically UNi is added to concentrated sulfuric acid to facilitate this reaction. In theory, the loss of water should make nitrourea more powerful than UNi. There is not a great deal of experimental data available about this material. It was theorized that the group that bombed the World Trade Center may have planned to conduct this reaction. No conclusive evidence exists to prove this speculation. To date, nitrourea has not been seen in any terrorist bombs. 

Several companies make products to assist evacuation by wheelchair users or others with severe mobility impairments. Note, the needs for the use of any such device might be as a result of a disability (mobility, respiratory, or cardio), a pregnancy, or an injury as a result of the event triggering the evacuation at hand, to point out but a few examples. The most widely known are lightweight chairs used to carry a person down a stairway. A man with quadriplegia safely evacuated the World Trade Center on 9/11 using a comparable piece of equipment. In his case, he and his coworkers trained on this equipment procured for him after the 1993 bombing. 

Studies following two recent terrorist attacks in the United States, the April 1995 Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing and the September 11 World Trade Center attack in New York City, have shed some additional light on the mental health outcomes following terrorist events. 

On February 29, 1993, a bombing in die parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City resulted in the deaths of five people and thousands of injuries. The bomb left a crater 200 by 100 feet wide and five stories deep. The World Trade Center was the second largest building in the world and houses 100,000 workers and visitors each day. 

Terrorist incidents in this country prior to the September II, 2001 attack have included bombings of the World Trade Center in New York City, the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. and Mobil Oil corporate headquarters in New York City. 

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