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* THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
TUESDAY,OCT.9,2001
FBI investigates man's anthrax death
The Associated Press
BOCA RATON, Fla. — The FBI took charge of the investigation of a Florida man's anthrax death yesterday after the germ was found in the nose of a co-worker and on a computer keyboard in their office.
"We regard this as an investigation that could become a clear criminal investigation," said Attorney General John Ashcroft during a news conference in Washington. "We don't have enough information to know whether this could be related to terrorism or not."
The FBI sealed off the Boca Raton office building that houses the supermarket tabloid The Sun, where the man worked. How the bacterial spores got into the newspaper's office was still under investigation.
More than 200 people lined up for
antibiotics and anthrax tests by late afternoon.
"I feel nervous. I'm worried for everybody," said David Hayes, an editor for The Star, another tabloid headquarters in the building.
Anthrax cannot be spread from person to person, but all 300 employees in the building — and anyone who spent more than an hour inside since Aug. 1 — were advised to visit Palm Beach County's health agency.
Antibiotics can be used to treat anthrax, though the form that caused last week's death is particularly lethal.
Health officials said no public health threat existed, even to building employees. "The risk is low," said John Agwunobi, a physician and Florida secretary of health.
Ashcroft said the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
in Atlanta was providing expertise in the case. Florida Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan confirmed the FBI was in control of the investigation.
Bob Stevens, 63, a photo editor for The Sun, died Friday of inhalation anthrax, an extremely rare and deadly form of the disease. The last such death in the United States was in 1976.
Yesterday, officials said another Sun employee, whose name was not released, had anthrax bacteria in his nasal passages. Large spores lodged in the respiratory tract are less dangerous than smaller spores in the lungs.
The co-worker was in stable condition at an unidentified Miami-Dade County hospital, health officials said. He had been tested for anthrax because he happened to be in a hospital for an unrelated and undisclosed illness.
"We don't have enough information to know whether this could be related to terrorism or not."
John Ashcroft
U.S. Attorney General
The man has not been diagnosed with the disease, and CDC representative Barbara Reynolds said authorities may never know whether he actually had anthrax because antibiotics may have killed it before it was detected.
Planes collide on Italian runway,114 dead
The Associated Press
MILAN, Italy — An SAS airliner taking off for Denmark hit a private jet that wandered across the runway, then careened into an airport building in a fiery crash. All 114 people on both planes and four people on the ground were killed yesterday.
It was Italy's worst aviation disaster. The people killed on the ground were airport workers at Milan's Linate Airport.
the government ruled out terrorism and said the crash was likely caused by human error compounded by poor visibility because of heavy morning fog.
"It's the worst day in our history,"
said Troels Rasmussen, SAS representative.
The collision occurred around 8:10 a.m. as the SAS MD-87 bound for Copenhagen with 104 passengers, six crew members and full fuel tanks — was accelerating on Linate's single runway.
A twin-engine Cessna jet, which was taking a potential buyer on a promotional flight, suddenly taxied onto the takeoff runway, said Alessandra Tripodi, a representative at the central government's office in Milan.
The SAS airliner careened off the runway from the impact and plowed into a baggage handling depot, the Interior Ministry said.
'I thought a bomb in a suitcase
had exploded and I ran," Salvatore Reale, 59, a baggage handler, told reporters at Niguarda hospital, where he was treated for burns.
The Interior Ministry said the Cessna, a Citation II with four people aboard, crossed onto the takeoff runway by mistake after air traffic controllers told the pilot to taxi around it.
Italy's second-largest pilots' union said the accident could have been avoided if the ground radar, which can track aircraft on runways, had been activated.
Aircraft must instead circle around the runway, he said.
"In this incident, it looks like the Cessna crossed the runway, which suggests an error was made in
terms of following the regulations," Gammino said. "It is now up to the magistrate to determine who is at fault."
The flight controllers' association, ENAV, said it appeared the Cessna pilot, despite having confirmed the instruction from the traffic controller, incorrectly went onto a taxiway that opened up directly onto the runway.
Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi put the confirmed death toll at 114 all 110 from the SAS flight and four from the Cessna. Tripodi's office said the bodies of the four ground workers had been found but could not be recovered.
New Yorkers celebrate holiday under tight security
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — With bombs falling on Afghanistan again, and New York on high alert against a terrorist counterattack, the city took part in a flagwaving, red-white-and-blue Columbus Day parade yesterday.
Fifth Avenue was awash in American flags, and marching bands played "God Bless America." The parade itself, which traditionally honors Italian-Americans, was renamed "Columbus Day Parade Honors America."
"It's a beautiful day to be a New Yorker," said Dana Kennedy, who watched with her 2-year-old son. "I've never felt so patriotic."
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the parade "demonstrates that we're
go ahead with our lives. We're not going to let terrorism hinder us."
At the World Trade Center, huge cranes continued to dip into a mountain of smoldering rubble, lifting several-ton sections of what were once support beams. The movement of debris released 100-foot-wide plumes of smoke from fires within the ruins. At least one body was seen being pulled from the ruins and was draped by workers in an American flag.
City officials have said 4,979 people remain missing from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. They have confirmed 593 deaths, including 335 victims who have been identified.
The mayor, remembering the 343 Fire Department members and 23
police officers lost in the attacks,
said: "I know if they were here, they'd say,
'Be brave. ... We died to protect freedom."
The city's first parade since the attacks came as the United States carried out a second consecutive day of air strikes against Afghanistan.
In a morning Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, prayers were offered for terror victims and heroes at home and combatants and innocent civilians in Afghanistan. It concluded with the "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Around the city, security was tightened. The State Department has warned about the possibility of "strong anti-American sentiment and retaliatory actions against U.S.
"It's a beautiful day to be a New Yorker. I've never felt so patriotic."
Dana Kennedy New York resident
citizens and interests throughout the world."
Some people voiced fears that terrorists might again focus on New York.
Onlookers said security along the parade route was similar to past years. And at the city's transportation hubs, visible security was much as it had been in recent weeks.
Egypt defends United States' use of force
The Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt — In a first reaction to the U.S. military response in Afghanistan, Egypt's foreign minister said yesterday that the United States must have "solid grounds" for strikes.
But Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher refused to say whether Egypt shared America's belief that Osama bin Laden was behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
attacks.
"We are not the investigators, and we believe in the judicial system of the United States," the foreign minister said. "I believe the United States and the other countries are convinced. I'm sure they would not have acted without solid grounds."
Maher's hedged support for U.S. evidence on bin Laden reflected the deep unease of his moderate Arab government, which shares a common enemy in religious extremists but whose citizens are not supportive of attacks on a fellow Muslim country.
But Egypt, seen as a voice of moderation, is a key opinion shaper in the Middle East.
Maher expressed Egypt's "solidarity" with the United States in the fight against terrorism.
But he said Middle East terrorism would persist as low as Palestinians were denied statehood.
The foreign minister upheld what he called Palestinians' right to keep fighting Israel.
"The right of resistance ... to oppressors cannot be denied," he said. "There is an enormous difference between resistance and terrorism."
Family fears jailed aid worker in danger
The Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Relatives of an American aid worker jailed in Afghanistan said yesterday that they feared for her safety now that U.S. air strikes have begun, but they are glad the United States refused to negotiate with the Taliban in exchange for her release.
Dayna Curry, a 29-year-old Tennessee native was arrested Aug. 3 along with another American four Germans and two Australians. She remains in the custody of Afghanistan's Taliban regime, which strictly interprets the teachings of Islam, on charges of preaching Christianity. Curry's relatives were keeping close to their televisions and cell phones
Leanne Malone, Curry's cousin, said family members got a "sick feeling in the pit of our stomachs" when they first heard of the air strikes. But they were equally unsettled by the Taliban's offer the day before to release the aid workers if Washington stopped its threats and began negotiations.
began negotiations. The United States has demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and has said the demand is non-negotiable.
dellum" we didnt negotiate," We didn't want the United States to negotiate," Malone said. "There'a trust issue. It's hard to know if we could take them at their word."
JUNIORS AND SENIORS, WANT TO JOIN GOLDEN KEY?
Golden Key International Honor Society Information Session Oct. 10 & 11,10:00 am-2:00 pm 4th Floor Kansas Union
9-11 and the Media: Confusion or Clarity
Prof. Lorraine Bayard DeVoto (Political Science)
University Forum
Wednesday, Oct. 10th 12:00 noon
At ECM Center Questions? 843-4933
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