WTC Basement Blast And Injured Burn Victim Blows ’Official 9/11 Story’ Sky High

[Guest guest]

D

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:39:46 -0500

WTC Basement Blast And Injured Burn Victim Blows 'Official

9/11 Story' Sky High

 

 

 

Friday 24th June 2005 (21h57)

 

 

WTC Basement Blast And Injured Burn Victim Blows 'Official 9/11 Story'

Sky High

Eye Witness Testimony Is Conclusive That North Tower Collapsed From

Controlled Demolition

 

WTC janitor pulls burn victim to safety after basement explosion rocks

north tower seconds before jetliner hit top floors. Also, two other

men trapped and drowning in a basement elevator shaft, were also

pulled to safety from underground explosion..

 

http://www.bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=6625

 

June 24, 2005

 

By Greg Szymanski

 

What happened to William Rodriguez the morning of 9/11 is a miracle.

What happened to his story after-the-fact is a tragedy.

 

But with miracles and tragedies comes truth. And truth is exactly what

Rodriguez brings to the whole mystery surrounding 9/11.

 

Declared a hero for saving numerous lives at Ground Zero, he was the

janitor on duty the morning of 9/11 who heard and felt explosions rock

the basement sub-levels of the north tower just seconds before the

jetliner struck the top floors.

 

He not only claims he felt explosions coming from below the first

sub-level while working in the basement, he says the walls were

cracking around him and he pulled a man to safety by the name of

Felipe David, who was severely burned from the basement explosions.

 

All these events occurred only seconds before and during the jetliner

strike above. And through it all, he now asks a simple question

everybody should be asking? How could a jetliner hit 90 floors above

and burn a man's arms and face to a crisp in the basement below within

seconds of impact?

 

Rodriguez claims this was impossible and clearly demonstrates a

controlled demolition brought down the WTC, saying " Let's see them

(the government) try to wiggle out of this one. "

 

Well, they haven't wiggled out of it because the government continues

to act like Rodriguez doesn't exist, basically ignoring his statements

and the fact he rescued a man burnt and bleeding from the basement

explosions.

 

His eye witness account, ignored by the media and the government,

points the finger squarely on an official cover-up at the highest

levels since the government contends the WTC fell only from burning

jet fuel. And after listening to Rodriguez, it's easy to see why the

Bush administration wants him kept quiet.

 

Bush wants him quiet because Rodriguez's account is 'proof positive'

the WTC was brought down by a controlled demolition, not burning jet

fuel. And Bush knows if he's caught lying about this or caught in a

cover-up, it's just a matter of time before the whole house of cards

comes tumbling down.

 

In fact, Rodriguez's story is so damaging - so damning - it literally

blows the lid off the government story, literally exposing the whole

9/11 investigation as a sham and a cover-up of the worst kind.

 

And it appears the cover-up also extends to the media.

 

NBC news knew about his story several years ago, even spending a full

day at his house taping his comments. But when push came to shove, his

story was never aired. Why?

 

His eyewitness account, backed up by at least 14 people at the scene

with him, isn't speculation or conjecture. It isn't a story that takes

a network out on a journalistic limb. It's a story that can be backed

up, a story that can be verified with hospital records and testimony

from many others.

 

It's a story about 14 people who felt and heard the same explosion and

even saw Rodriguez, moments after the airplane hit, take David to

safety, after he was burnt so bad from the basement explosion flesh

was hanging from his face and both arms.

 

So why didn't NBC or any other major news outlets cover the story?

They didn't run it because it shot the government story to hell and

back. They didn't run it because " the powers at be " wouldn't allow it.

 

Since 9/11, Rodriguez has stuck to his guns, never wavering from what

he said from day one. Left homeless at times, warned to keep quiet and

subtly harassed, he nevertheless has continued trying to tell get his

message out in the face of a country not willing to listen.

 

Here is his story:

 

The Miracle

 

It's a miracle Rodriguez, 44, who worked at the WTC for 20 years, is

even alive. Usually arriving to work at 8:30am, the morning of 9/11 he

reported 30 minutes late. If he'd arrived on time, it would have put

him at the top floors just about the same time the jetliner hit the

north tower.

 

" It was a miracle. If I arrived on time, like always, I'd probably be

dead. I would have been up at the top floors like every morning, " said

Rodriguez about the quirk of fate that saved his life.

 

But since he was late, Rodriguez found himself checking into work in

an office on sub-level 1 when the north tower was hit, seemingly out

of harms way. However, the sound and concussion of a massive explosion

in the sub-levels right below his feet changed that.

 

" When I heard the sound of the explosion, the floor beneath my feet

vibrated, the walls started cracking and it everything started

shaking, " said Rodriguez, who was huddled together with at least 14

other people in the office.

 

Rodriguez said Anthony Saltamachia, supervisor for the American

Maintenance Co., was one of the people in the room who stands ready to

verify his story.

 

" Seconds after the first massive explosion below in the basement still

rattled the floor, I hear another explosion from way above, " said

Rodriguez. " Although I was unaware at the time, this was the airplane

hitting the tower, it occurred moments after the first explosion. "

 

But before Rodriguez had time to think, co-worker Felipe David stormed

into the basement office with severe burns on his face and arms,

screaming for help and yelling " explosion! explosion! explosion! "

 

David had been in front of a nearby freight elevator on sub-level 1

about 400 feet from the office when fire burst out of the elevator

shaft, causing his injuries.

 

" He was burned terribly, " said Rodriguez. " The skin was hanging off

his hands and arms. His injuries couldn?t have come from the airplane

above, but only from a massive explosion below. I don?t care what the

government says, what scientists say. I saw a man burned terribly from

a fire that was caused from an explosion below.

 

" I know there were explosives placed below the trade center. I helped

a man to safety who is living proof, living proof the government story

is a lie and a cover-up.

 

" I have tried to tell my story to everybody, but nobody wants to

listen. It is very strange what is going on here in supposedly the

most democratic country in the world. In my home country of Puerto

Rico and all the other Latin American countries, I have been allowed

to tell my story uncensored. But here, I can?t even say a word. "

 

After Rodriguez escorted David to safety outside the WTC, he returned

to lead the others in the basement to safety as well. While there, he

also helped two other men trapped and drowning in the basement

elevator shaft, another result he says of the explosives placed below

the tower.

 

In fact, after leading these men to safety, he even made another trip

back into the north tower, against police orders, in order to rescue

people from the top floors.

 

" I never could make it to the top, but I got up to the 33rd floor

after getting some of my equipment and a face mask out of the

janitor?s closet, " said Rodriguez, adding he heard a series of small

explosions going off between the 20th and 30th floors, unrelated to

the airplane strike, while making his way through the stairwell to the

top floors.

 

" Also, when I was on the 33rd floor, I heard strange sounds coming

form the 34th floor, loud noises like someone moving and thumping

heavy equipment and furniture. I knew this floor was empty and

stripped due to construction work so I avoided it and continued to

make my way up the stairs. "

 

Rodriguez said he finally reached the 39th floor before being turned

back by fire fighters and then, reluctantly, started his dissent back

down and his own flight to safety while, at the same time, hearing

explosions coming from the South Tower.

 

The Tragedy

 

The concerted effort by the media and the government to silence

Rodriguez is the tragedy behind this American hero's story. And there

is no question, Rodriguez is a " silent hero " for saving so many lives

and for having the courage to continue telling his story against

tremendous odds.

 

In an effort to open a fair and honest investigation as to why the WTC

collapsed, Rodriguez has been ignored by government officials, the

9/11 Commission and the National Institute of Safety and Technology

(NIST).

 

NIST, an independent investigative group funded by the government, put

the finishing touches this week on its 2 year $35 million 9/11

investigation. This week Rodriguez made his final plea to have his

story heard while testifying at the final public hearing held in New York.

 

" I disagree 100%with the government story, " said Rodriguez. " I met

with the 9/11 Commission behind closed doors and they essentially

discounted everything I said regarding the use of explosives to bring

down the north tower.

 

" And I contacted NIST previously four times without a response.

Finally, this week I asked them before they came up with their

conclusion that jet fuel brought down the towers, if they ever

considered my statements or the statements of any of the other

survivors who heard the explosions. They just stared at me with blank

faces and didn't have any answers.

 

" Also, The FBI never followed up on my claims or on the other part of

my story when I told them before 9/11, I encountered one of the

hijackers casing the north tower. "

 

Besides the explosions, Rodriguez also has provided testimony to the

9/11 Commission that he stumbled across one of the supposed 19 Arab

hijackers inside the WTC several months before 9/11

 

" I had just finished cleaning the bathroom and this guy asks me,

'Excuse me, how many public bathrooms are in this area?' " Rodriguez

told the 9/11 Commission. " Coming from the school of the 1993 [Trade

Center] bombing, I found it very strange. I didn't forget about it "

 

Rodriguez, claims he saw United Airlines Flight 175 hijacker Mohand

Alshehri in June 2001, telling an FBI agent about the incident a month

after the attacks. Never hearing back from the bureau, he later

learned agents never followed up on the story.

 

" I'm very certain, I'll give it 90% " that Alshehri was casing the

towers before the attacks, " said Rodriguez.

 

Regarding the media's apathetic approach to his story, Rodriguez said

immediately after 9/11 some newspapers picked it up but his words were

never taken seriously and quickly forgotten.

 

" During the 9/11 hearings, NBC brought a crew out to my house and

spent a day taping my story but they never did air a word of it, " said

Rodriguez. " Since then, some reporters and commentators have subtly

warned me to keep quiet, told me my life could be in jeopardy and

warned me that I really didn't understand who I was dealing with.

 

" I have been receiving this type of subtle harassment for years, but I

keep telling everybody I can?t be intimidated because I am on a

mission. Whenever someone asks why I keep talking or warns me that I

could be killed, I just tell them I have nothing to lose.

 

" I tell them I lost 200 friends and I am their voice now. I tell them

I will do everything in my power to find out the truth since I am

living on borrowed time since I probably should be dead anyway. "

 

Besides trying to tell his explosive story, Rodriguez has been active

raising money for 9/11victims, being involved with charity groups that

have raised more than $122 million. He says he has used over $60,000

of his own money, originally earmarked to buy a new house, in order to

get at the truth behind 9/11.

 

Also seeking justice at the highest level, Rodriguez is the lead

plaintiff in a federal RICO lawsuit filed against President Bush and

others, alleging conspiracy to commit murder and other crimes in the

deaths of more than 3,000 at the WTC.

 

The case, filed last November in a Philadelphia federal district

court, recently was moved to New York in a change of venue after a

government?s motion to dismiss was overruled, allowing legal discovery

to continue.

 

" Even if the case goes no farther, I feel we have scored a victory by

winning this first battle, " said Rodriguez. " At least the judge seems

willing to listen which is a victory of sorts. However, I sincerely

hope we can eventually take the case all the way to trial and reveal

the truth to the American people about 9/11. "

 

http://www.arcticbeacon.com/articles/article/1518131/28031.htm

 

 

 

--