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US says one 9/11 mystery is solved
Report cites fire in building collapse</font size></center>
ROBERTO BOREA/AP FILE PHOTO
Conspiracy theorists have long
argued that fire and damage
from falling debris could not
have brought down the 47-story
trapezoid-shaped World Trade
Center Building 7. (ROBERTO
BOREA/AP FILE PHOTO)
Associated Press
By Devlin Barrett
August 22, 2008
GAITHERSBURG, Md. - Federal investigators said yesterday that they have solved a mystery of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks: the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7, a source of long-running conspiracy theories.
The 47-story trapezoid-shaped building sat north of the World Trade Center towers, across Vesey Street in lower Manhattan. On Sept. 11, as the North Tower collapsed, falling debris damaged Building 7 and ignited several fires inside. Skeptics have long argued that fire and debris alone could not have brought down such a large steel-and-concrete structure.
Scientists with the National Institute of Standards and Technology say their three-year investigation of the collapse has determined that the building was the first skyscraper ever to be brought down by a fire.
"The reason for the collapse of World Trade Center 7 is no longer a mystery," said Shyam Sunder, the team's lead investigator.
Investigators also concluded that the collapse of the nearby towers broke a city water main, leaving the sprinkler system in the bottom half of the building without water.
The building has been the subject of a wide range of conspiracy theories for the last seven years, partly because the collapse occurred about seven hours after the twin towers came down. That fueled suspicion that the building was intentionally brought down in a controlled demolition.
Mike Berger of the group 9/11 Truth said he wasn't buying the government's explanation.
"Their explanation simply isn't sufficient," he said, arguing that there is other evidence suggesting explosives were used on the building. "We're being lied to."
Sunder said his team investigated the possibility that an explosion inside the building brought it down but found there was no large boom or other noise that would have occurred with such a detonation. Investigators also created a giant computer model of the collapse, based partly on video footage from CBS News that they say shows internal column failure brought down the building.
Investigators also ruled out the possibility that the collapse was caused by fires from a substantial amount of diesel fuel that was stored in the building.
The 77-page report concluded that the fatal blow to the building came when the 13th floor collapsed, weakening a critical steel support column that led to catastrophic failure.
"When this critical column buckled due to lack of floor supports, it was the first domino in the chain," said Sunder.
A spokeswoman for the leaseholder of the World Trade Center, developer Larry Silverstein, praised the government's work.
"Hopefully this thorough report puts to rest the various 9/11 conspiracy theories, which dishonor the men and women who lost their lives on that terrible day," spokeswoman Dara McQuillen said.
Sunder, the lead investigator, acknowledged that some may still not be convinced, but he insisted the science behind their findings is conclusive.
"The public should really recognize the science is really behind what we have said," he said. "The obvious stares you in the face."
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/08/22/us_says_one_911_mystery_is_solved/
