Suits in Bomb Case Topping $250 Million
Companies and individuals hurrying to beat a one-year statute of limitations deadline filed lawsuits Friday seeking more than $250 million in the bombing of the World Trade Center.
The lawsuits, filed in state Supreme Court, name the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the trade center’s owner, as the chief defendant. Plaintiffs included Hilton Hotels International, Wausau Insurance, Fuji Bank, WPIX Inc. and the Century 21 department store.
Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., a securities broker and major tenant, filed a lawsuit seeking $220 million, a rent rebate and the rescinding of its lease.
The Feb. 26, 1993, blast was caused by a load of explosives in a van that was parked in an underground garage. Six people were killed and hundreds of others were injured.
James Begley, the Port Authority’s New York litigation chief, said that as of this week his office had received 1,100 notices of claim seeking $375 million. Filing a notice of claim is the first step in suing a government agency.
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