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URGENT

Explosion at Olympic Park After Bomb Scare

Eds: Tops with report of bomb scare before blast

ATLANTA (AP) - An explosion rocked Centennial Olympic Park shortly after a bomb scare early Saturday. A morgue attendant said he was told that four people were killed.

An NBC cameraman said the explosion that rocked the park came several minutes after he was told to evacuate because of a bomb scare.

Mark Field from KNBC in Los Angeles was shooting footage near a white sound and light tower.

``A security guard tried to move us back because he said there was a suspicious package. We got about 50 feet away and turned back. About five minutes later, we saw a large flash-bang. It did not seem like that large a bomb because the package was not that big, but pieces were flying everywhere.''

R. Green, a morgue attendant at the Fulton County medical examiner's office, said he was told by the bomb sqaud that four people had been killed.

About 150 to 200 people were injured about 1:15 a.m. when the explosion struck the tower near a stage where thousands of revelers were watching a concert by Jack Mack and the Heat Attack, said a spokeswoman for the Atlanta Fire Department who would not give her name.

``I felt the ground shake,'' said Desmond Edwards, an Atlanta schoolteacher who witnessed the blast. ``Some people looked really messed up. There were rivers of blood.''

Snenetricus Warford said the explostion appeared to come from a garbage can. ``I looked up, there was fire and smoke going up. People were there. It blew them over. Some people got hit, some people didn't get hit.

``I thought it was fireworks, like a big boom, and I saw three guys laying in the street,'' said Terry Tyson. ``They all had leg injuries. Blood was running down the street. It was horrible.''

The tower, apparently used for lighting and sound at the main concert stage in the park, was still standing after the blast, but debris littered the base of the structure.

Tom Williams was standing just across the street when he heard the tower ``blow up.''

``I was walking along and three people were laying in the street,'' he said. ``I didn't see any fire, just smoke.''

He said the three men he saw must have been ``blown over the fence'' which surrounds the park, since there was no other debris in the street.

Another witness, Chris Bender, said he heard what sounded like a cannon. ``I saw a bunch of smoke come up and saw particles in my eyes,'' he said.

Police and other security officers swarmed through the streets trying to clear the area, forcing people away from the park which sits at the hub of the Olympic Games. Three major sports arenas are adjacent to the park, though sports competition had ended when the explosion occurred.

The park was packed with people, many of whom ran through the streets in tears. Hospitals, meanwhile, braced to treat the injured.

``I know we've been told we'll been getting some injured people and to be prepared to accept them,'' said Shirley Hawkins, spokesman for Piedmont Hospital. ``I don't know how many, but we got a call from the fire department that ambulances are on the way with injured people.''

AP-WS-07-27-96 0256EDT