SF: Explosion prompts fears - quickly proved unfounded - of terror attack

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/12426407.htm

Posted on Fri, Aug. 19, 2005

Police evacuated the Crocker Galleria after an explosion rattled the upscale retail center in San Francisco's financial district at 9:54 a.m. prompting fears -- which quickly proved unfounded -- that the city was under terrorist attack.

Instead, Pacific Gas & Electric said the explosion appeared to have been caused by a fault in an underground transformer in front of the Polo Ralph Lauren store on Kearny Street.

Tom DeMartini, 44, of San Francisco was sitting in a truck nearby when the blast occurred. ``I saw the sidewalk lifted and flames jumped up,'' he recalled.

Across the street, Wen Batiz-Vegas saw flames shooting up from a manhole. ``I just heard a boom and shattering glass,'' said the 40-year-old network administrator. ``Police were yelling: `Get off the block!''' said Alvin Kimbell Andrews, 43, who works as a security guard at 153 Kearny Street. ``I thought it was terrorism.''



"San Francisco firemen and PG&E workers investigate the site of an underground explosion that set fire to the awning of a store, shattered store windows and injured one person."

[Missy M]

1. Unfortunately in this day and age anything that happens will be

attributed to terrorism. bush and company has done a great job of putting fear into the American people exactly the way they wanted. It is to their benefit.