Twenty five years have passed since a bombing at the World Trade Center killed six people and injured more than 1,000 others.
At 12:18 p.m. on February 26, 1993, a cell of terrorists detonated more than 1,200 pounds of explosives in a parking garage below the north tower. The blast resulted in a crater more than 100-feet wide and several stories deep. Six suspects were arrested and convicted of directly participating in the attack.
The bombing came 8 years before the 9/11 attacks.
Family members of those killed are expected to gather at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza to read the names of their loved ones. The victims include 45-year-old John DiGiovanni, 61-year-old Robert Kirkpatrick, 47-year-old Stephen Knapp, 57-year-old William Macko, 37-year-old Wilfredo Mercado and 35-year-old Monica Rodriguez Smith. Four of the victims worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum has also opened a commemorative installation, "Remembering the 1993 Bombing at the World Trade Center," to mark the 25th anniversary. It features an FBI-created model of the parking garage to demonstrate the size of the bomb crater. The installation also tells the story of the terror plot, its effects on the World Trade Center site, and the effort to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“The ramifications of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center continue to reverberate today,” 9/11 Memorial & Museum President Alice Greenwald said in a statement. “Twenty-five years have passed since this devastating terror attack killed six innocent people and our city was forever changed. Eight years later, we again experienced the unimaginable when terror returned to the site during the September 11 attacks. Both attacks left their imprint on New York City and on our nation."
Also on display is a letter written by a Port Authority employee who though he wouldn't survive the attack. Carl Selinger was stuck in an elevator when he wrote a letter to his wife and children, saying "I love you very much ... Do wonderful things in your life."
“By sharing the history of the 1993 attack and its far-reaching repercussions as well as the stories of the family members of those killed and the thousands of survivors through our special programming, we will educate many who have no lived memory of the attack and ensure that this history will never be forgotten,” said Clifford Chanin, 9/11 Memorial & Museum Executive Vice President and Deputy Director for Museum Programs.
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