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Hours after a fire that rocked an oil storage facility on Staten Island, pall of black smoke still hung in the sky as firefighters poured powerful columns of water on the smoldering flames from high-rise scaling ladders.
Meanwhile, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg told a press conference that every piece of evidence indicated this was nothing other than an industrial accident, and so far no information could relate the incident to terrorism.
"There is absolutely no evidence and no reason to think at this moment that this is anything other than a tragic accident," he said.
Authorities believe that the fire was started by a refueling accident that occurred at a loading barge.
Roughly 4 million gallons of gasoline were being unloaded when the accident occurred, Bloomberg said. The workers were about halfway through the process, meaning 2 million gallons were in tanks on the shore, while the other two had either evaporated or were still in the barge that sunk.
Two persons were still accounted for and one ExxonMobil employee was hospitalized in critical conditions, about 30 people were working in the area when the fire broke out, officials said.
Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to go about their business, adding that he declined assistance volunteered by New York state governor George Pataki since there is no need for state aid.
Much of the fire was expected to be put under control by early afternoon, but there was concern that a second fire could be sparked by the existing flames.
Fire officials said gasoline burned on water and on land at the edge of the Exxon Mobil storage facility, and spokesman Michael Loughran said it appeared that none of the dozens of oil tanks had burned.
Police spokesman Michael O'Looney said the incident appeared tube an accident, but FBI officials in Washington said they were still examining it because an oil storage facility is the type of infrastructure terrorists might target.
The Department of Homeland Security "is closely monitoring the situation with local state authorities and other federal agencies as well as assisting in the coordination of the response," said department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.
The explosion, which could be heard several miles away, occurred at the edge of Port Mobile, near the Outer bridge Crossing that links the island to Perth Amboy, New Jersey in the southwestern part of Staten Island.
It was reported shortly after 10 a.m., according to a spokeswoman for the New York Fire Department.
(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2003)
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