2 Hurt in Mail Blast; No Unabomber Link Seen

A bomb in a brown paper package exploded at the headquarters of a long-distance telephone company Monday, seriously injuring the woman who received it in the mail. A co-worker was slightly hurt.

The package blew up just before noon as 35-year-old Tracy Bullis opened it. The company described her as a manager in a technical field.

“At this point it does not appear to be the work of the Unabomber,” said George Grotz, spokesman for the FBI and the Unabomb task force in San Francisco. “Our investigation is continuing. We’re working with the local bomb squad there.”

The Unabomber has been blamed for three deaths and 23 injuries since 1978. Some of his targets have been high-tech companies and universities.

The blast shook the fifth floor of the nine-story office building that is headquarters for BTI, a long-distance telephone company with 30 offices in the Southeast. Most BTI customers are businesses.

“We didn’t hear anything of it at first, then we heard the running” of people down the stairs, said Craig Dance of Greenville, S.C., who was attending a sales training class on the fifth floor.

BTI officials said they had no idea why anyone would send a bomb to Bullis.

“I really can’t understand why anyone would want to do harm or damage to our employees,” said Kim Chapman, BTI executive vice president for marketing.

Bullis was in serious condition with multiple injuries at Wake Medical Center. Company officials said she is married and has children.

Another BTI employee, Judith Collins Harrison, 38, of Wake Forest, suffered minor injuries and drove herself to the hospital, said Earl Fowler, a fire department spokesman.

The damage was confined to the office where the explosion occurred. Tony Copeland, a BTI vice president, said the blast blew a hole in an inside wall of the glass-and-stone building, where 300 people work.

The building was evacuated and was searched for more bombs. None were found.