Tomorrow marks the 22nd anniversary of the February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.  We honor the memory of Robert Kirkpatrick, 61, Stephen Knapp, 47, William Macko, 57, John DiGiovanni, 45, Wilfredo Mercado, 37 and Monica Rodriguez Smith, 35, and her unborn child who were killed.  1,042 people were injured when terrorists detonated a truck bomb in the basement level garage of the North Tower.

Hundreds of first responders from the FDNY, NYPD and PAPD evacuated approximately 50,000 people from the complex in a rescue that took more than 11 hours.  "We got there less than a half hour after it happened....  The bomb blew up and made a hole the size of a football field.  Straight down for five and a half levels.... there were no stairwells, there were no ramps, everything was gone.  The only way to get down there was to tie off a line and climb down with a big porta-light."  Donald Sadowy, NYPD Bomb Squad retired.

The bomb caused numerous fires and thick smoke that made the evacuation extremely difficult.  Hundreds were trapped in elevators and offices.  "Chief Engineer Gene Fasullo, myself, 5 other engineers and 2 attorneys were in the elevator on our way down to lunch. We could see the soot and smoke falling from the ventilation fan. Forty minutes later the lights went out. We scored the walls of the shaft using a key and a nail clipper, and cut our way into the 58th floor bathroom." - Frank Lombardi, Assistant Chief Engineer, PANYNJ

A massive FBI investigation followed in coordination with the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, with some 700 FBI agents.  On March 4, 1993 an FBI SWAT team arrested the first suspect and shortly after three more suspects were arrested.  The FBI found the apartment where the bomb was built and a storage locker containing dangerous chemicals, including enough cyanide gas to wipe out a town. All four men were tried, convicted, and sentenced to life.  The mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing, Ramzi Yousef, was captured in Pakistan in February 1995, returned to America, and convicted along with the van driver.  It was later learned from Yousef that his Trade Center plot was to topple one tower, with the collapsing debris knocking down the second. The attack turned out to be something of a deadly dress rehearsal for 9/11; with the help of Yousef's uncle Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, al Qaeda would later return to realize Yousef's nightmarish vision. - Source fbi.gov.

In 1995 a granite memorial fountain was erected on the World Trade Center Plaza, directly above the site of the explosion, honoring those killed. The memorial contained the names of the six people who were murdered in the attack as well as an inscription that read: "On February 26, 1993, a bomb set by terrorists exploded below this site. This horrible act of violence killed innocent people, injured thousands, and made victims of us all."

The memorial was destroyed by the attacks of September 11, 2001.  However, the lessons learned from the 1993 bombing and improvements in the evacuation are credited with saving many lives in the evacuation on 9/11.  Today the victims are listed on the North Tower 9/11 Memorial pool, a reminder that the attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 are forever linked.

We hope you will take a moment to remember.

We invite you to visit the 9/11 Tribute Center where you can view an interactive timeline that shares personal experiences of February 26, 1993 through audio recordings or visit tributewtc.org to learn more.

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