Putting Together the Fragments: The Investigation of the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing

Putting Together the Fragments: The Investigation of the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing

A courtroom sketch depicts four defendants awaiting sentencing by a judge, who looms in the top-right corner.
Collection 9/11 Memorial Museum, Drawing by Christine Cornell, Gift of the Cami family, in honor of Kevin Thomas Duffy

On February 26, 1993, a van loaded with a 1,200-pound urea nitrate bomb headed for downtown Manhattan. The destination was the World Trade Center, and the mission was to destroy the Twin Towers. The group of terrorists led by Ramzi Yousef drove their bomb-filled vehicle into the public parking garage below the towers. They parked on the B-2 level of the garage, lit the bomb’s fuse, and escaped in a getaway car.

At 12:18 p.m. on that cold day in February, the bomb detonated. The explosion left a hole 150 feet wide and several stories deep underneath the North Tower. People on the top floors of the towers and in surrounding buildings could feel the force of the explosion. While the terrorists’ mission to destroy the towers failed, six people were killed in the attack, and thousands were injured.

Within minutes of the bombing, Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) investigators suspected an act of terrorism. Two days after the attack, investigators recovered several vehicle fragments from the parking garage of the World Trade Center site. Unlike the other fragments they found, these pieces indicated that they were from a vehicle that had exploded outward. Two of these pieces included a vehicle identification number (VIN), a unique code given to every car and truck sold in the United States. The vehicle, a Ryder van, was traced by the FBI to a rental agency in Jersey City, New Jersey, and from this bit of information, the investigators learned the name of the man who rented the van, Mohammed Salameh. Seeking a refund for his $400 deposit, Salameh had reported it stolen on the afternoon of February 26.

That evening of the attack, two of the bombers, Rami Yousef and Eyad Ismoil, fled the country using fake passports and left their other conspirators behind.

Working with the rental-office personnel, Salameh was arrested on March 4, 1993. The FBI searched his apartment and the information obtained led to the arrests of three co-conspirators: Ahmad Ajaj, Nidal Ayyad, and Mahmoud Abouhalima. The FBI also interviewed another suspect, Abdul Yasin, before releasing him due to a lack of evidence. Yasin fled to Jordan; he was later indicted but still has not been captured.

On March 5, after receiving a tip from an employee, the FBI searched a self-storage unit in Jersey City. Agents discovered chemicals that could be used to manufacture explosives, including urea, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid. The chemicals matched evidence from the World Trade Center bombing site. That same day, The New York Times received a letter taking responsibility for the bombing on behalf of a group calling itself the Liberation Army, Fifth Battalion. After Nidal Ayyad, one of the conspirators, was arrested on March 10, the FBI matched his DNA to traces of saliva found on the letter’s envelope. An FBI specialist later recovered a document from Ayyad’s work computer that referenced the letter received by The New York Times.

Seven months later, following the reopening of the Twin Towers and Ramzi Yousef’s addition to the FBI’s Most Wanted List on April 21, 1993, the United States began its trial against the four perpetrators of the World Trade Center bombing in custody. More than 200 witnesses were called to testify during the trial, which took place before Judge Kevin T. Duffy in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The trial concluded on March 4, 1994. The four defendants were found guilty on all counts. On May 24, 1994, Judge Duffy sentenced each of them to 240 years in prison, factoring in the combined life expectancies of the six people killed in the bombing.

Ramzi Yousef remained at large until he was captured in Pakistan on February 5, 1995, for planting a bomb on Philippine Airlines Flight 434, which killed one passenger and injured 10 others. He was extradited Yousef to New York. When the helicopter transporting Yousef flew past the World Trade Center on February 8, 1995, an FBI agent reminded Yousef that the towers were still standing. Yousef responded that “they would not be if [he] had had enough money.”

Yousef entered a plea of not guilty as he faced two separate trials: one for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center attack and another for the Bojinka plot. The jury found Yousef and Eyad Ismoil guilty for their involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Another jury found Ramzi Yousef and his co-conspirators, Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah, guilty of conspiracy for the Bojinka plot. On January 8, 1998, Judge Duffy sentenced Yousef in both trials to life in prison plus 240 years, factoring in the combined life expectancies of the six people killed in the 1993 bombing.

Five of the six convicted World Trade Center bombers are still serving their sentences at a maximum-security prison in Colorado, while the sixth, Nidal Ayyad, serves in Indiana. The U.S. government considers the bombing an open case because the seventh alleged conspirator, Abdul Yasin, who fled the United States in March 1993, remains at large.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

Explore the History of the World Trade Center in New Digital Exhibition

Explore the History of the World Trade Center in New Digital Exhibition

A woman in silhouette leans against a lamppost on a curved boardwalk, facing the view of lower Manhattan in the background. The Twin Towers, at the center of the skyline, rise into the cloudy sky.
The lower Manhattan skyline seen from Jersey City, New Jersey, 1998. Collection 9/11 Memorial Museum, Gift of George Forss.

Last week the 9/11 Memorial Museum launched its newest digital exhibition detailing the remarkable history of the planning, construction, and operation of the World Trade Center site.

This online collection of stories explores the symbolism of the World Trade Center and why it became a target on 9/11. These stories provide those who never saw these landmark structures in lower Manhattan with a sense of what they were and what they meant for New York.

Visitors to this digital experience will learn about life in the towers, from the day-to-day operations of the World Trade Center complex, to the activities and events that took place on the site, to the people who worked in or visited the Twin Towers.

Explore the World Trade Center History exhibition.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

Last Chance to View "Skywalkers" at the 9/11 Memorial Museum

Last Chance to View “Skywalkers” at the 9/11 Memorial Museum

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Photo by Jin S. Lee

The last day to see Skywalkers: A Portrait of Mohawk Ironworkers at the World Trade Center, an exhibition of tintype photographs by artist Melissa Cacciola, will be Sunday, January 12, 2020.

This exhibition introduces some of the Native American Mohawk ironworkers, renowned for the ability to work fearlessly at great heights, who helped build the Twin Towers, aided rescue and recovery operations at Ground Zero, and worked to rebuild the new World Trade Center site. Cacciola’s photographs are a powerful testament to the shared history of the Mohawk ironworkers and the World Trade Center site.

Find out more about the exhibition and the artworks on view, and learn more about planning your visit to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

Rebuilding: The first director of WTC looks toward the future as he recalls the past

Rebuilding: The first director of WTC looks toward the future as he recalls the past

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The first director of the World Trade Center and the man behind the twin towers' original construction recalled picking the architect for what were once the world's tallest buildings and his ongoing relationship with the Frenchman who walked a high wire strung between the two skyscrapers.

The WTC's first director, Guy Tozzoli, chatted Monday with museum staff of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. He was hired in 1962 by then-named Port Authority of New York to head the development, construction and management of the World Trade Center, a complex aimed to revitalize lower Manhattan.  He was responsible for the entire project and chose architect Minoru Yamasaki.

Yamasaki originally designed several 80-story towers for the site, but Tozzoli was persistent in increasing the design to feature twin 110-story buildings.  Tozzoli said he has the tendency to keep making things bigger, even now.

He now serves as president of the World Trade Center Association, an organization he founded in 1970 to connect countries through economic activity.  At its inception, the association had only 15 participants from 15 countries.  Today, there are 325 "World Trade Centers" in cites across 92 countries.  In 1999, Tozzoli was nominated by the South Korean and North Korean governments and was accepted as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

“I like what I do,” said Tozzoli, who at the age of 88 still heads the organization.

Tozzoli oversaw the World Trade Center in New York from its construction in the 1960's until its destruction on Sept. 11, 2001.  His office was located on the 77th floor of the North tower, and he enjoyed his time working there.  "I loved it," he said.

When speaking about the towers, Tozzoli said, “Windows on the World was my favorite place,” a restaurant he hopes to see recreated in one of the future towers.

Tozzoli also joked about his relationship with Philippe Petit, the French high-wire artist who “danced” across a tightrope between the twin towers in 1974.  The pair, who are now friends, speak at public lectures together.

“It’s really fun,” said Tozzoli, who loves sharing stories like Petit's high-wire act. “They become part of you," he said, still remembering the day mountain-climber George Willig scaled the 110 stories in 1977.

On Sept. 11, Tozzoli watch the towers he built burn and collapse while he was arriving late to work from the Holland Tunnel.

“I wanted to go down and be with the people,” he recalled.  But he was turned away after showing a police officer his credentials.  "He said, 'I don't care if you're the pope.'"

Now, Tozzoli said he wants “to help people do it all over again” and he said he's “looking forward” to visiting the 9/11 Memorial when it is completed next year.

Tozzoli also hopes to still be around when the new towers are finished.  He joked, "I'm older than God."

By Meghan Walsh, Communications Associate for the 9/11 Memorial

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