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Authors: Gavin de Becker,Thomas A. Taylor,Jeff Marquart

Just 2 Seconds (68 page)

BOOK: Just 2 Seconds
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869.
Date: January 17, 1993
Victim: Governor Terry Branstad
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Details: Branstad was sledding with his son when they struck another sled, breaking Branstad's upper jaw in six places. He underwent surgery on January 23.

870.
Date: April 19, 1993
Victim: South Dakota Governor George Mickelson
Location: Dubuque, Iowa
Details: Mickelson was killed along with seven others when his state airplane crashed in Iowa. It had reportedly suffered engine failure.

871.
Date: May 21, 1993
Victim: Diplomat Derrick John Haro and Diplomat David McLackan
Location: Tehran, Iran
Details: Haro and McLackan were killed when a minibus struck their car.

872.
Date: July 15, 1993
Victim: Japanese Ambassador Ryoji Onodera
Location: Bolzano, Italy
Details: Onodera froze to death with his guide while climbing the 12,800-foot Ortles peak in northern Italy. His guide was an expert climber and instructor.

873.
Date: July 17, 1993
Victim: FBI Director William Sessions
Location: Washington, D.C.
Details: Distracted by reporters, Sessions tripped over a curb and fell to the sidewalk, breaking his arm.

874.
Date: September 14, 1993
Victim: German Diplomat Franz Bertele
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Details: Bertele was injured when the Lufthansa Airbus he was on crashed while landing, killing two and injuring 68. Brake failure was blamed.

875.
Date: September 13, 1993
Victim: TV Celebrity Oprah Winfrey
Location: Miami, Florida
Details: Though media reports indicated a bomb or smoke bomb had exploded inside Oprah Winfrey's car, the accurate account of the incident is quite different: A crowd of people saw smoke pouring from Oprah Winfrey's car as she was driven away from a public appearance. A security guard in the front seat of her car thought the smoke was coming from a package handed to him by a fan, which he had placed on the floor in front of his seat. He threw the package outside the car. Winfrey was transferred to another vehicle, and soon after, it was determined that the smoke, or what appeared to be smoke, was coming from a faulty compressor in the car's air conditioner.

876.
Date: November 11, 1993
Victim: Pope John Paul II
Location: Rome, Italy
Details: After delivering a speech, the Pope tripped and fell down four steps, breaking his right shoulder. He managed to shake a few hands and then left for the hospital.

877.
Date: December 15, 1993
Victim: Governor Mike Leavitt
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Details: Leavitt's wife, Jackie, their son, and seven staff members escaped when a Christmas tree caught fire, causing extensive damage to the governor's mansion. Two fire inspectors had to force open a door to rescue them.

878.
Date: January 15, 1994
Victim: Queen Elizabeth II
Location: Sandringham, England
Details: The queen broke her left wrist when she fell off the horse she was riding.

879.
Date: January 21, 1994
Victim: Basil Assad (son of President Assad)
Location: Syria
Details: Assad was killed in a car crash. He was considered a successor to the throne and served as chief of presidential security.

880.
Date: April 28, 1994
Victim: Pope John Paul II
Location: Rome, Italy
Details: The Pope slipped in the bathroom and broke his right leg. He later sought medical treatment and underwent surgery the following day.

881.
Date: June 18, 1994
Victim: Governor Bruce Sundlun
Location: Barrington, Rhode Island
Details: A man rear-ended Sundlun's car, which was being driven by a state trooper. The man was arrested for being intoxicated.

882.
Date: June 29, 1994
Victim: Prince Charles
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Details: A tire blew out as Charles' BAe 146 airplane landed, causing it to skid off the end of the runway. There were no injuries.

883.
Date: July 9, 1994
Victim: Governor Surendra Nath
Location: Bhuntar, Punjab
Details: Nath was killed when a state plane carrying him, his wife, eight other family members, and three crewmembers crashed after leaving the capitol.

884.
Date: July 25, 1994
Victim: Gubernatorial Candidate Amado Avendano
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Details: A tractor-trailer swerved in front of Avendano's Chevrolet Suburban, killing three and injuring three. Avendano suffered a punctured lung, six broken ribs, and head injuries. The truck had no license plates and the driver fled the scene.

885.
Date: July 25, 1994
Victim: Gubernatorial Candidate Danny Williams
Location: Muskogee, Oklahoma
Details: Williams' single-engine plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a highway. Both he and the pilot escaped injury.

886.
Date: August 7, 1994
Victim: Mayor Roland Roberge
Location: Milton, New Hampshire
Details: Roberge died in a fire at his summer cottage. Neighbors rescued his wife.

887.
Date: August 20, 1994
Victim: Vice President Al Gore
Location: Washington, D.C.
Details: Gore was disabled when he tore his Achilles tendon during a basketball game at the Congressional gymnasium. It was surgically repaired that night.

888.
Date: August 21, 1994
Victim: Kuwaiti Prince Ali al-Sabah
Location: Rabat, Morocco
Details: The Royal Air Maroc plane carrying al-Sabah and 43 others crashed ten minutes after takeoff, killing everyone on board.

889.
Date: September 16, 1994
Victim: President Bill Clinton
Location: Washington, D.C.
Details: Three fire trucks responded to the West Wing of the White House after a lamp shorted out, causing smoke. Clinton was in the East Wing at the time.

890.
Date: December 4, 1994
Victim: President Bill Clinton
Location: Washington, D.C.
Details: A metal gatepost that was retracted into the ground, popped up seconds after Clinton's limousine drove over it. A van in his motorcade struck it, activating its airbags and shattering a window.

891.
Date: December 23, 1994
Victim: Circuit Judge H. Michael Coburn
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Details: Coburn was leading a group of VIPs on an inspection tour of a darkened condemned building when he fell down an elevator shaft. He died four days later of massive head injuries.

892.
Date: January 10, 1995
Victim: Senate President Pro Tem John Bloomer
Location: Montpelier, Vermont
Details: Bloomer died of chest injuries suffered in a car wreck while
en route
to the Statehouse.

893.
Date: May 26, 1995
Victim: President Jose Figueres
Location: Costa Rica
Details: Figueres suffered back and neck injuries when his airplane slid off a rain-slickened runway.

894.
Date: July 18, 1995
Victim: Governor Lawton Chiles
Location: Destin, Florida
Details: Eleven people were hurt, one critically, in a series of Panhandle lightning strikes. Chiles' plane was struck as he flew from Tallahassee to Tampa, but it landed safely.

895.
Date: July 28, 1995
Victim: Former President George H.W. Bush
Location: Eastern Canada
Details: It was reported that Bush nearly drowned when he fell into a peat bog while fishing in Canada earlier in the month. Secret Service agents and RCMP officers rescued him seconds before he went under.

896.
Date: August 19, 1995
Victim: U.S. Special Envoy Robert Frasure
Location: Sarajevo, Bosnia
Details: Regional Security Officer Peter Hargraves was decorated for bravery for his actions following the crash of Frasure's vehicle. Hargraves was making the trip from Belgrade to Sarajevo for a meeting of President Clinton's peace team with the Bosnian Government. The edge of the road gave way beneath the armored personnel carrier in which Hargraves, Ambassador Frasure, Dr. Joseph Kruzel, and Col. Nelson Drew were traveling, along with Lt. Col. Daniel Gerstein and a French soldier. The vehicle came to rest 1,000 feet below the roadway, in flames. Despite his own severe injuries, Hargraves extricated himself from the vehicle. He returned repeatedly, to pull Kruzel from the wreckage and attempted to locate the other passengers, stopping only when the vehicle exploded, killing Frasure and others.

897.
Date: September 4, 1995
Victim: Governor Brereton Jones
Location: Frankfort, Kentucky
Details: Jones was taken to the hospital after he fell while riding a horse. X-rays showed two fractures in his spine and he was fitted with a brace.

898.
Date: October 7, 1995
Victim: Queen Elizabeth II
Location: London, England
Details: The queen suffered a broken collarbone during a bird hunt when a grouse was shot out of the sky and it struck her.

899.
Date: January 11, 1996
Victim: U.S. Senator Sonny Bono
Location: Palm Desert, California
Details: Bono collided with another snow skier on the slopes at Big Bear Lake, receiving a deep gash on his chin. It required 11 stitches to close.

900.
Date: January 14, 1996
Victim: Elizabeth Dole (wife of Senator Robert Dole, and former Cabinet member)
Location: Washington, D.C.
Details: Dole slipped on an icy sidewalk while walking her dog and broke her left wrist.

901.
Date: January 15, 1996
Victim: King Moshoeshoe II
Location: Maseru, Lesotho
Details: Moshoeshoe was killed in a car accident.

902.
Date: January 17, 1996
Victim: Ibrahim Abacha (son of President Abacha)
Location: Kano, Nigeria
Details: A Falcon jet, part of the presidential fleet, crashed after the pilot complained about engine trouble. The crash killed all 14 on board, including several bodyguards.

903.
Date: January 30, 1996
Victim: Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Location: Sun Valley, Idaho
Details: O'Connor fell and broke her right shoulder while snow skiing on an intermediate-difficulty slope. The ski patrol rescued her.

904.
Date: February 27, 1996
Victim: Lieutenant Governor Ronnie Musgrove
Location: Jackson, Mississippi
Details: Musgrove suffered a ruptured diaphragm, four broken ribs, and a fractured elbow when another car ran a stop sign and struck his car. The trooper driving Musgrove was also seriously injured.

905.
Date: March 10, 1996
Victim: Former Governor John Sununu
Location: Breckenridge, Colorado
Details: Sununu fractured ribs in a fall during a charity ski race.

906.
Date: March 22, 1996
Victim: Princess Diana
Location: London, England
Details: While driving herself, Diana was involved in a five-car pileup. She fled to a nearby police station and officers drove her back to the palace.

907.
Date: March 26, 1996
Victim: Mayor Joseph Vadella
Location: Carbondale, Illinois
Details: During an inspection tour, two buildings collapsed, trapping Vadella and an officer for about an hour. Both had minor injuries when rescued by firemen.

908.
Date: April 1, 1996
Victim: Mother Teresa
Location: Calcutta, India
Details: Teresa fell at her headquarters and broke her collarbone.

909.
Date: April 3, 1996
Victim: Commerce Secretary Ron Brown
Location: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Details: Brown was killed with 32 others, including a dozen business executives, when their Air Force T-43 plane crashed into a mountain in stormy weather.

910.
Date: April 28, 1996
Victim: Governor Ben Nelson
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Details: The FAA investigated what caused the state plane carrying Nelson and four others to slide off a rain-soaked runway. No one was injured.

911.
Date: April 29, 1996
Victim: Former CIA Director William Colby
Location: La Plata, Maryland
Details: Colby drowned while attempting to launch a canoe on the river at his home. His wife stated that Colby said he didn't feel well before leaving the house.

912.
Date: May 8, 1996
Victim: Governor Jim Edgar
Location: Peoria, Illinois
Details: Lightning struck Edgar's King Air airplane while flying through a storm at about 10,000 feet. A burning odor was smelled and then flames began coming out of one ceiling vent. The pilots deployed oxygen masks while passengers grabbed a fire extinguisher. The flames went out when the pilots decompressed the cabin. The plane landed safely.

913.
Date: June 11, 1996
Victim: President Bill Clinton
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Details: Air Force One was cruising at 33,000 feet when it suddenly hit a bank of turbulence, tossing people and food about the cabin. The only injury was a Secret Service agent who cut his hand.

914.
Date: June 12, 1996
Victim: Former President George H.W. Bush
Location: Bangor, Maine
Details: A private Boeing 757 bound for Europe with Bush made an emergency landing due to a problem with the left engine. Among the 45 passengers were Barbara Bush and Colin Powell.

915.
Date: June 22, 1996
Victim: Mayor Zosimo Batolini
Location: Abuyog, Philippines
Details: The bus that Batolini was riding on swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle and rammed into a parked dump truck. Batolini and eight others were killed, and six were injured.

916.
Date: June 24, 1996
Victim: Mayor Gordon Tigerne
Location: Monroe, Washington
Details: Tigerne was reported to be in serious condition with head injuries after being struck with a van while riding his bicycle.

917.
Date: July 23, 1996
Victim: Queen Elizabeth II
Location: London, England
Details: A lightning bolt struck 150 feet from the tent where the queen, Prince Philip, and Prince Charles had taken shelter during a downpour. Two women, attending the garden party of 8,000 people, were knocked down and their skin was burned. The Royals were not injured.

918.
Date: August 3, 1996
Victim: Chief of Danish Navy Hans Joergen
Location: Vagar, Faeroese Islands
Details: A Danish Air Force Gulfstream jet, carrying Admiral Joergen, his wife, and seven others, crashed into a mountainside, killing all on board. Visibility was poor due to fog.

BOOK: Just 2 Seconds
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