1993 World Trade Center Bombing Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
Here’s some background information about the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, which killed six people and injured more than 1,000. Six suspects were convicted of directly participating in the bombing. The seventh suspect, Abdul Rahman Yasin, is still at large.
Facts
The explosion created a hole 200 feet by 100 feet, several stories deep. It caused the PATH station ceiling to collapse.
The 1,200-pound bomb was in a Ryder truck parked in a parking garage beneath the World Trade Center.
An estimated 50,000 people were evacuated.
Ramzi Yousef directed the organization and execution of the bombing. He said he did it to avenge the sufferings Palestinian people had endured at the hands of US-aided Israel.
Timeline
February 26, 1993 – At 12:18 p.m. ET, a bomb explodes on the second subterranean level of Vista Hotel’s public parking garage, below the 2 World Trade Center building.
February 28, 1993 – The FBI confirms that a bomb caused the explosion. In the wreckage, federal agents find shattered van parts with a vehicle identification number.
March 4, 1993 – Mohammad Salameh is arrested after he claims a refund on a rented van authorities believe carried the explosives.
March 5, 1993 – Authorities seize bomb-making chemicals at a shed Salameh had rented.
March 10, 1993 – Nidal Ayyad is arrested at home in New Jersey.
March 18, 1993 – Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman denies involvement in the bombing. Abdel-Rahman is an Egyptian cleric who emigrated to the United States. Some of the 1993 bombing suspects frequented the New Jersey mosque where he preached.
March 24, 1993 – Mahmud Abouhalima is arrested in Egypt and extradited to the United States.
March 29, 1993 – The World Trade Center re-opens.
May 6, 1993 – Ahmad Ajaj becomes the sixth person charged in the bombing.
August 25, 1993 – Abdel-Rahman is indicted for involvement in a large terrorist plot that includes the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
October 4, 1993 – Trial opens for four of the defendants: Salameh, Ayyad, Abouhalima and Ajaj.
March 4, 1994 – Four defendants, Salameh, Ayyad, Abouhalima and Ajaj, are convicted. They are sentenced to prison terms of 240 years each. In 1998, the sentences are vacated. In 1999, the men are re-sentenced to terms of more than 100 years.
February 7, 1995 – Suspected WTC bombing mastermind Yousef is captured abroad by the FBI and State Department.
October 1995 – Abdel-Rahman is convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison.
January 8, 1998 – After being convicted, Yousef is sentenced to 240 years in prison for his role in organizing the bombing. “I am a terrorist and proud of it,” he tells the court.
April 3, 1998 – Eyad Ismoil is sentenced to 240 years. Ismoil drove the van loaded with a homemade bomb into the World Trade Center.
August 4, 1998 – A federal appeals court upholds the 1994 convictions of four men convicted in the bombing but orders them to be re-sentenced because they did not have lawyers when they were originally sentenced.
August 6, 2001 – A federal appeals panel upholds the sentences of the four men who had been convicted.
April 4, 2005 – The US State Department announces that it is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Abdul Rahman Yasin, who is still at large.
September 26, 2005 – A jury begins hearing arguments about whether the owners of the World Trade Center should be held liable for the 1993 terrorist attack on the fallen landmark. Hundreds of affected businesses and survivors allege in the lawsuit that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey failed to implement expert recommendations to end public access to an underground parking garage.
October 26, 2005 – A New York jury rules that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was negligent in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six people and injured 1,000. Damages will be determined in cases for individual victims.
April 30, 2008 – An appeals court upholds a 2005 ruling which holds New York and New Jersey Port Authority liable for damages incurred during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
February 20, 2009 – The first trial involving a victim of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the Port Authority opens. Linda Nash is seeking up to $8 million in damages for the injuries she suffered in the attack.
March 12, 2009 – A jury awards Nash $5.46 million for injuries she suffered in the attack.
September 22, 2011 – New York Court of Appeals, in a 4-3 ruling, excludes the Port Authority from claims of negligence related to the 1993 bombing.
May 11, 2012 – The judgment in which Nash was awarded $5.46 million for injuries suffered in the attack is dismissed based on the Port Authority’s exclusion from liability.
July 14, 2015 – The Appellate Division for the New York Supreme Court restores the jury award for Nash.
February 18, 2017 – Abdel-Rahman, the blind Egyptian-born cleric who inspired terrorist plots including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, passes away in an American prison at the age of 78.
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