DATE=  11/19/97

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

NUMBER=5-38133

TITLE=TERRORIST BOMBINGS / BUILDING DESIGN

BYLINE=DAVID MCALARY

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:



INTRO:  THE TERRORIST MASSACRE IN LUXOR, EGYPT, IS LINKED TO THE

1993 BOMBING OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER IN NEW YORK.  THE

SPIRITUAL LEADER OF THE GROUP CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE

LUXOR ATTACK IS SERVING A LIFE SENTENCE IN THE UNITED STATES FOR

CONSPIRING TO BLOW UP THE NEW YORK BUILDINGS.  ONE OF THE WORST

ATTACKS AGAINST BUILDINGS AROUND THE WORLD WAS THE 1995

DESTRUCTION OF A U-S GOVERNMENT BUILDING IN OKLAHOMA CITY THAT

KILLED 167 PEOPLE.  RESEARCHERS HAVE STUDIED THAT ATTACK FOR

INFORMATION TO USE IN IMPROVING BUILDING DESIGN TO LESSEN THE

IMPACT OF BOMBS.  SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT DAVID MCALARY REPORTS.



TEXT:  THE OKLAHOMA CITY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DISPATCHED A TEAM

SOON AFTER THE BOMBING OF THE NINE-STORY ALFRED MURRAH FEDERAL

BUILDING TO GET DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PHYSICAL INJURIES AND DEATHS

THAT RESULTED FROM ITS PARTIAL COLLAPSE.



PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT SHERYLL SHARIAT ['SHARE-EE-AT] SAYS THIS IS

BELIEVED TO BE THE FIRST STUDY OF A TERRORIST BOMBING TO IDENTIFY

INJURY AND FATALITY ZONES AND FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO CASUALTIES.



                        // SHARIAT ACT //



         WE MAPPED THE LOCATIONS OF PERSONS WITHIN THE BLAST

         VICINITY BEGINNING WITH THE MURRAH BUILDING AND WE

         IDENTIFIED PERSONS WITHIN THAT BUILDING ACCORDING TO

         THEIR INJURY STATUS -- WHETHER THEY WERE VITALLY

         INJURED, WHETHER THEY WERE HOSPITALIZED, OR WHETHER THEY

         HAD MINOR INJURIES AND WERE TREATED AND RELEASED AS

         OUTPATIENTS.



                          // END ACT //



THE RESEARCHERS REPORTED IN THE "JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL

ASSOCIATION" THAT -- NOT SURPRISINGLY -- PEOPLE IN THE COLLAPSED

PART OF THE BUILDING WERE MORE LIKELY TO DIE OR BE HOSPITALIZED

THAN THOSE IN OTHER PARTS.  THE DEATH RATE WAS ALSO HIGHER FOR

THOSE ON THE UPPER FLOORS OF THE COLLAPSED PORTION.



MS. SHARIAT SAYS FOR THE ENTIRE AREA SURROUNDING THE BLAST, THERE

WERE FOUR TIMES AS MANY NON-FATAL INJURIES AS DEATHS.



                        // SHARIAT ACT //



         THE TYPES OF NON-FATAL INJURIES MOST COMMON WERE THOSE

         THAT RESULTED FROM FLYING GLASS AND DEBRIS AND THERE

         MANY VERY, VERY SEVERE LIFE THREATENING INJURIES THAT

         RESULTED FROM SEVERE LACERATIONS.  BUT THE MAJORITY OF

         INJURIES WERE SOFT TISSUE INJURIES, FRACTURES, SPRAINS,

         STRAINS, AND HEAD INJURIES. MOST OF THE INJURIES WERE

         MINOR INJURIES.



                          // END ACT //



AS A RESULT, THE RESEARCHERS SAY MEDICAL WORKERS SHOULD

ANTICIPATE THAT MOST INJURIES IN A BUILDING EXPLOSION WILL  NOT

BE FATAL.



THEY POINT OUT THAT THE DATA CAN BE USED BY THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY

TO IMPROVE RECOGNITION AND CARE OF PEOPLE INJURED AND KILLED IN

BUILDINGS.  MS. SHARIAT SAYS THE INFORMATION MAY ALSO BE USEFUL

IN INTEGRATING TECHNIQUES FROM ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING,

BUILDING MATERIALS, BLAST PHYSIC TO MAKE BUILDINGS LESS

SUSCEPTIBLE TO COLLAPSE.



                        // SHARIAT ACT //



         IF YOU COULD IMPROVE ANY ONE FACTOR IN ENGINEERING AND

         BUILDING CONSTRUCTION THAT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED DEATH

         AND INJURY -- TO  NOT  HAVE HAD THAT BUILDING COLLAPSE

         WOULD HAVE BEEN THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.  ENGINEERS CAN

         LEARN FROM THE TYPE OF DESTRUCTION THAT RESULTED FROM

         THAT BLAST AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE BUILDING.  IN THE

         SURROUNDING BUILDINGS, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE INJURIES

         FROM GLASS WERE JUST SO WIDESPREAD.  SO, IF YOU CAN MAKE

         GLASS, FOR INSTANCE, THAT DIDN'T SHATTER AND BECOME

         MISSILES AND FLY INTO A SOFT BODY, YOU COULD PREVENT A

         LOT OF THOSE INJURIES.



                          // END ACT //



MS. SHARIAT ACKNOWLEDGES SUCH TECHNOLOGIES EXIST.  AUTOMOBILE

GLASS IS SHATTERPROOF AND BUILDINGS IN EARTHQUAKE ZONES ARE OFTEN

RE-INFORCED.  BUT SHE SAYS THEY SHOULD BE MORE WIDELY APPLIED TO

BUILDINGS THAT COULD BE THE SUBJECT OF TERRORIST BOMBINGS.

SIMILARLY, THE U-S NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL HAS RECOMMENDED THE

CIVILIAN SECTOR ADOPT RE-INFORCING TECHNIQUES USED BY THE

MILITARY TO HARDEN CONCRETE NUCLEAR MISSILE ENCASEMENTS.



                         // REST OPT //



                        // SHARIAT ACT //



         IN HIGH-RISK BUILDINGS, THOSE KINDS OF TECHNOLOGIES

         SHOULD BE CONSIDERED BECAUSE RISK IS MUCH HIGHER FOR

         SUSTAINING A TERRORIST BOMBING.



                          // END ACT //



SHERYLL SHARIAT OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.

(SIGNED)



NEB/DEM/RAE



19-Nov-97 3:08 PM EST (2008 UTC)

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Source: Voice of America

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