Word: blasted
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...years the United States seemed immune to attack. After a blast strikes New York City's World Trade Center, Americans ponder their vulnerability...
...firmly concluded that a terrorist was responsible, the New York City police department is in charge, and it was the N.Y.P.D. that took the lead in sifting through the 19 telephoned claims of "credit" that were received in the first 24 hours. Though none came in before the blast -- the earliest followed it by an hour, well after the first news reports -- a few were intriguing. Many of the calls were made by people claiming to be affiliated with Balkan groups, including one made by a caller in Europe who said he represented the Black Hand, a Serbian extremist organization...
Because of their trouble getting to the "blast seat" in the dangerously crumbling underground garage, investigators could not even confirm to their complete satisfaction what had caused the explosion. But its size and intense heat suggested a bomb, as did traces of nitrate found at the edges of the blast crater. Until they could determine otherwise, informed experts assumed that hundreds of pounds of high explosives had been packed into a car or van that was left at a four-level underground parking garage. The garage is situated below the Trade Center plaza and near a station of the PATH...
...stories deep. Floors collapsed onto one another with an impact that caused the ceiling of the PATH station nearby to come crashing down, showering chunks of concrete onto commuters waiting on the platform. In the same moment, the 110-story Twin Towers swayed visibly as the force of the blast shuddered upward. Lobby windows exploded onto the plaza and marble slabs fell from the walls. As fractured steam pipes launched jets of hot mist into the air, the first victims stumbled out of the buildings, bloodied and in shock...
Four of the dead were Port Authority workers, whose offices and locker rooms were located on the lower levels that sustained the worst damage. More than 24 hours after the blast, two other workers were still missing. But the toll was less severe than first feared. Though some suffered major injuries, most of the victims were treated for smoke inhalation or minor burns...