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 ELIZABETH
FARNSWORTH: Two bombs exploded almost simultaneously today at the U.S.
embassies in the East African nations of Kenya and Tanzania. The blasts
occurred about four minutes and four hundred and fifty miles apart in
the capital cities of Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam. Seventy-four people
were killed in Nairobi, eight of them Americans. Six Americans are still
missing. More than 1,600 people were
injured.
Rescue workers and volunteers dug through
concrete rubble to pull survivors and bodies from the wreckage. An Army
sergeant from Missouri, Kenneth R. Hobson II, was the first victim identified.
 In
Dar Es Salaam seven people, none of them American, were killed by the
explosion, which some described as a car bomb. Seventy-two people were
injured.
U.S. Marines, who guard all embassies, tried
to keep order while firefighters doused flames. In Washington, President
Clinton condemned the attacks at a White House Rose Garden event.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: These acts of terrorist violence are abhorrent. They
are inhuman. We will use all the means at our disposal to bring those
responsible to justice, no matter what or how long it takes, and we
will do everything we can to assure that you can serve in safety. To
the families and loved ones of the American and African victims of these
cowardly attacks, you are in our thoughts and prayers.
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Mr. Clinton ordered flags flown at half-staff.
He said U.S. military medical teams and anti-terrorist investigators
were being dispatched to the two countries. American embassies around
the world were put on increased security alerts. No one has claimed
responsibility for the bombings.
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