20-04-2009, 01:25 PM
Emphases mine.
Agence France Presse -- English
April 20, 1995 06:57 Eastern Time
America shaken by Beirut-style car bomb
SECTION: International news
LENGTH: 1014 words
By Stephane BenturaOKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, April 20 (AFP) - Rescue crews were hunting for some 200 people missing in the wreckage of the building from from the Oklahoma car bomb attack, with 33 already found dead and the toll expected to climb.
Meanwhile, the manhunt began for the perpetrators of one of the worst terrorist attacks in US history. Federal experts feared the death toll could top 200.
More than 200 people were injured in the blast, 58 criticially, from a powerful car bomb that sheared the federal building in half, Fire Chief Gary Marrs said. Officials said 200 people were missing in the blast.
Although federal authorities said they had no strong lead on the attackers, a Texas police source quoted in Thursday's El Paso Times said an all-points bulletin had been put out for two people possibly smeared with blood who could be trying to cross into Mexico at Laredo, Texas.Police Sergeant Kim Hughes said the bomb was believed to be in a minivan with Texas plates owned by National Car Rental. The vehicle's axel was found two blocks from the bomb site, a police source said.
The attack spawned bomb scares around the country and prompted Clinton to order that security be stepped up at federal offices throughout the country, the White House said.
Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating said he was told by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that one of the many leads being followed included three people of Middle Eastern descent traveling in a brown pickup truck.
Assistant Fire Chief Jon Hansen said rescue crews late Wednesday had pulled three people from the rubble, two of whom died a short time later. A 15-year-old girl was taken to hospital in critical condition.
"Our firefighters are having to crawl over corpses in areas to get to people that are still alive," Hansen added.
Rescuers were further hampered in their search as they came across what they thought might be more bombs. Police Sergeant Bill Martin said the suspicious objects were equipment stored in the building by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).
The tragedy touched the hearts of Americans since 12 of the dead were children from one to seven years of age. They were among 40 attending a day-care center inside the building.
Martin confirmed that 12 children were killed, correcting an earlier figure of 17 given by a paramedic.
"The bombing in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens. It was an act of cowardice, and it was evil," a grim President Bill Clinton said Wednesday.
"Let there be no room for doubt. We will find the people who did this. When we do, justice will be swift and severe," he said. "These people are killers and they must be treated like killers."
Attorney General Janet Reno said the government would seek the death penalty once the perpetrators were apprehended.
AFP
The attack occurred on the second anniversary of a fiery finale to a standoff between members of a cult in Waco, Texas and law enforcement agents, and officials said the FBI had received recent bomb threats.
The blast, a little over two years after the World Trade Center bombing in New York that killed six people, has further eroded Amercans' feeling that they are safe from terrorism.
Unconfirmed reports suggested international terrorists, possibly backed by anti-US regimes in Iran or Iraq, were behind the attack but FBI spokesman Bob Ricks told a news conference his department had "no indication with regards to a group. Nor do we have any indications of reasons.
A Justice Department official said six people had called saying they were from different Moslem sects and claiming responsibility for the bombing, but that there was no way to know if the calls were genuine.
There were reports that two unexploded bombs were found near the blast site, which experts said could provide a major break for investigators. An intact bomb could yield important clues from the way it is constructed.
Clinton dispatched a crack team of investigators to the bomb site and the FBI assigned four men to set up a 24-hour command post to supervise four FBI evidence response and explosive ordonnance teams, bomb technicians, and five of the bureau's top bombing investigators.
The ATF as well as the US Secret Service, the state national guard and US Army also dispatched personnel.
ATF director John Magaw said the bombing, which blew a 10 meter (30-foot) long and 2.5-meter (eight-foot) deep crater in front of the federal building, was caused by an auto packed with some 450 kilograms (1,000 pounds) of explosives.
He said it was comparable in size to bomb used at the World Trade Center.
fgf/msa
AFP
Agence France Presse -- English
April 20, 1995 06:57 Eastern Time
America shaken by Beirut-style car bomb
SECTION: International news
LENGTH: 1014 words
By Stephane BenturaOKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, April 20 (AFP) - Rescue crews were hunting for some 200 people missing in the wreckage of the building from from the Oklahoma car bomb attack, with 33 already found dead and the toll expected to climb.
Meanwhile, the manhunt began for the perpetrators of one of the worst terrorist attacks in US history. Federal experts feared the death toll could top 200.
More than 200 people were injured in the blast, 58 criticially, from a powerful car bomb that sheared the federal building in half, Fire Chief Gary Marrs said. Officials said 200 people were missing in the blast.
Although federal authorities said they had no strong lead on the attackers, a Texas police source quoted in Thursday's El Paso Times said an all-points bulletin had been put out for two people possibly smeared with blood who could be trying to cross into Mexico at Laredo, Texas.Police Sergeant Kim Hughes said the bomb was believed to be in a minivan with Texas plates owned by National Car Rental. The vehicle's axel was found two blocks from the bomb site, a police source said.
The attack spawned bomb scares around the country and prompted Clinton to order that security be stepped up at federal offices throughout the country, the White House said.
Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating said he was told by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that one of the many leads being followed included three people of Middle Eastern descent traveling in a brown pickup truck.
Assistant Fire Chief Jon Hansen said rescue crews late Wednesday had pulled three people from the rubble, two of whom died a short time later. A 15-year-old girl was taken to hospital in critical condition.
"Our firefighters are having to crawl over corpses in areas to get to people that are still alive," Hansen added.
Rescuers were further hampered in their search as they came across what they thought might be more bombs. Police Sergeant Bill Martin said the suspicious objects were equipment stored in the building by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).
The tragedy touched the hearts of Americans since 12 of the dead were children from one to seven years of age. They were among 40 attending a day-care center inside the building.
Martin confirmed that 12 children were killed, correcting an earlier figure of 17 given by a paramedic.
"The bombing in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens. It was an act of cowardice, and it was evil," a grim President Bill Clinton said Wednesday.
"Let there be no room for doubt. We will find the people who did this. When we do, justice will be swift and severe," he said. "These people are killers and they must be treated like killers."
Attorney General Janet Reno said the government would seek the death penalty once the perpetrators were apprehended.
AFP
The attack occurred on the second anniversary of a fiery finale to a standoff between members of a cult in Waco, Texas and law enforcement agents, and officials said the FBI had received recent bomb threats.
The blast, a little over two years after the World Trade Center bombing in New York that killed six people, has further eroded Amercans' feeling that they are safe from terrorism.
Unconfirmed reports suggested international terrorists, possibly backed by anti-US regimes in Iran or Iraq, were behind the attack but FBI spokesman Bob Ricks told a news conference his department had "no indication with regards to a group. Nor do we have any indications of reasons.
A Justice Department official said six people had called saying they were from different Moslem sects and claiming responsibility for the bombing, but that there was no way to know if the calls were genuine.
There were reports that two unexploded bombs were found near the blast site, which experts said could provide a major break for investigators. An intact bomb could yield important clues from the way it is constructed.
Clinton dispatched a crack team of investigators to the bomb site and the FBI assigned four men to set up a 24-hour command post to supervise four FBI evidence response and explosive ordonnance teams, bomb technicians, and five of the bureau's top bombing investigators.
The ATF as well as the US Secret Service, the state national guard and US Army also dispatched personnel.
ATF director John Magaw said the bombing, which blew a 10 meter (30-foot) long and 2.5-meter (eight-foot) deep crater in front of the federal building, was caused by an auto packed with some 450 kilograms (1,000 pounds) of explosives.
He said it was comparable in size to bomb used at the World Trade Center.
fgf/msa
AFP
"If you're looking for something that isn't there, you're wasting your time and the taxpayers' money."
-Michael Neuman, U.S. Government bureaucrat, on why NIST didn't address explosives in its report on the WTC collapses
-Michael Neuman, U.S. Government bureaucrat, on why NIST didn't address explosives in its report on the WTC collapses