Fire And Smoke

IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN HERE. NOT IN America. Not in New York City. But it did. On Friday, just past noon, what is believed to be a car bomb exploded in an underground garage beneath Manhattan's 110-story World Trade Center. The blast and the resulting smoke and fire killed at least five people and injured 1,042. It forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate the buildings. It snarled traffic, stopped train service and knocked TV stations (many had antennas on the roof) off the air. The blast created a 200-ft. by 100-ft. crater. It also forged heroes. A woman in a wheelchair was carried down 66 stories by two friends. A pregnant woman was airlifted from a tower roof.

New York City police commissioner Raymond Kelly cited three indicators pointing toward a bomb: traces of nitrate, the magnitude of the explosion and the amount of heat generated. Although talk of a terrorist attack was immediate, the FBI and the police refused to speculate publicly on who might be responsible. Authorities received 19 phone calls claiming responsibility, but all came more than an hour after the explosion, and none offered any details that would have been known only to the bomber and police. (See cover story, beginning on page 24.)