Trial starts in 1993 World Trade Center bombing

By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A long-awaited civil trial over the
1993 truck bombing of the World Trade Center began on Monday
with victims charging that authorities failed to heed their own
warnings about an attack on the symbolic site.

Hundreds of victims are suing the owners of the Twin Towers
over security procedures before February 26, 1993, when
Islamist militants exploded a truck bomb in an underground
parking garage, killing six and wounding more than 1,000.

Several people are serving life prison terms for the
attack, and the trial in New York state civil court will
determine whether the owners — the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey — can be held liable. If so, separate suits
from hundreds of victims and business owners could go forward.

The plaintiffs say the Port Authority failed to act for
years on numerous warnings that the World Trade Center was
vulnerable to attack long before the bombing. The Twin Towers
were destroyed on September 11, 2001, when Muslim militants
crashed two hijacked airliners into them.

Plaintiff lawyer David Dean said the public underground
parking garage was left unguarded even though presidential
limousines and the Secret Service’s ammunition were stored
there.

“The Port Authority predicted exactly what happened. Why
didn’t they do something about it?” said Dean, citing security
assessments by the Port Authority and outside consultants.

The Port Authority received no specific threat or
intelligence report to anticipate the blast, defense lawyer
Marc Kasowitz countered in opening arguments.

“The 1993 World Trade Center attack was unprecedented. It
was the first attack by foreign terrorists on American soil,”
Kasowitz said.

“These terrorists were obsessed with attacking the World
Trade Center and they were going to do it one way or another,”
he said.

The first World Trade Center attack was overshadowed by the
one eight years later, and victims of the 1993 bombing are
seeking the right to sue for damages.

“The whole emphasis is on 9/11. This was the first attack.
There has been a lot of suffering, a lot of trauma. We just
don’t want to be forgotten,” said Sydney Spencer, a caterer who
was on the 55th floor on the day of the bombing.

Walter Stokes, an engineer who was in the basement and
suffered severe injuries, said he was frustrated by the legal
delays.

“I hope it finishes soon … The Port Authority should be
held responsible. I have dealt with these people. They just
don’t care,” Stokes said.