World+Tade+Center+Bombing+of+1993+G6

=World Trade Center Bombing-1993=

Overview
The World Trade Center bombing occured on Febuary 26, 1993. The bomb was a car bomb that was detonated below the North Tower. The bomb was intended to blow up in the North Tower and cause it to fall into the South Tower which would end up killing thousands of innocent people. However the bomb failed to knock down the North Tower and ended up only killing six people and injuring over 1000. The bombing was planned by Ramzi Yousef and several other conspirators. They received the finances necessary for the bombing from Khaled Shaik Mohammed.

Central Issue
Yousef and Eyad Ismoil drove a van into lower Manhattan, and parked it in the parking garage below the North Tower. Yousef then lit the twenty foot fuse and twelve minutes later the bomb exploded. The force of the bomb was 150,000 psi. The bomb opened a 30m hole through four levels of concrete. The detonation of the bomb had a velocity of 15,000ft/s. The bomb instantly cut off the center's main power line which knocked out te emergency lighting system. The bomb caused smoke to rise up to the ninety-third level of the towers. Many of the injuries in the attack were a result of smoke inhalation. Hundreds of people were trapped in elevators because the power went out, including a group of kindergartners that were trapped in an elevator for five hours. Because the electricity went out many of New York's radio and television stations lost their broadcast signals for over a week.

Conclusion/Historical Significance
Yousef quickly fled to Pakistan just hours after the bombing. What caused the blast was not immediately known. Many agents and bomb technicians from the ATF, FBI, and NYPD quickly responded. Over the days that the bomb went off investigators looked for clues in the debris of the towers when one investigator discovered a vehicle identification number that belonged to a van rental service and they traced the renter to Mohammad Salameh. Salameh was one of Yousef's conspirators and he claimed the van had been stolen, but he was arrested. The capture of him and Yasin led police to Yousef's apartment where they found bomb making materials.

References(2009-10.1.2.F)