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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Huang who wrote (11466)	2/21/2003 1:25:01 PM
From: Ed Huang	Respond to of 25898

Blast hits New York oil plant Last Updated: Friday, 21 February, 2003, 17:54 GMT The explosion started a massive fire A massive explosion has struck an Exxon Mobil oil and gas facility on Staten Island, on the outskirts of New York City. The blast, which started a huge fire, occurred as a barge was offloading fuel at a terminal on the Arthur Kill waterway at about 1010 local time (1510 GMT), an Exxon Mobil spokeswoman said. "One person on the barge has been taken to hospital, and two are unaccounted for," Prem Nair told BBC News Online, adding that the company was still trying to "establish the facts" as to whether anybody was inside the terminal. The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, says the incident was an industrial accident, quashing any speculation of a terrorist attack. Click here to see a map of the area The barge was carrying 100,000 barrels of fuel. Some 200 firefighters rushed to the scene of the blast in what a fire department spokesman described as a "major emergency response". 'Acrid smoke' Plumes of black smoke have been darkening the sky between New York City and New Jersey and can be seen for many miles. Donald Laub, from Tootenville Public Library on the island, heard the blast. Click here to see images of the blaze "At first we thought it was some sort of terrorist incident. 9/11 is not that far away. Everyone is a little bit jittery right now," he told the BBC. He said he could see and smell the acrid black smoke which is rising into the air. Staten Island borough president James Molinaro was on his way to the scene, a spokeswoman at his office said. Police are controlling traffic, keeping people away from the area. The BBC's Stephen Evans says the Staten Island facility pipes supplies to large areas of the US from the north-east to mid-western states, and the three New York-area airports. Oil prices rose by almost a dollar per barrel on world markets after news of the blast. news.bbc.co.uk -------------------------------------- >>The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, says the incident was an industrial accident, quashing any speculation of a terrorist attack.<< How could the NY mayor be so sure immediately after the incident that the blast was not related to terrorist attack? Will the authority admit the cause of the blast even there's clue that link to the terrorist when they are beating the war drum?