BLAST IN ATLANTA : 2 KILLED, SCORES INJURED IN EXPLOSION AT OLYMPIC CONCERT GAMES WILL GO ON, OFFICIAL SAYS.

Byline: Steve Wilstein Associated Press 

Terrorism struck the Olympics for the first time since Munich in 1972 when a bomb exploded today in the heart of the Summer Games, killing at least two and wounding more than 200.

``We will consider it an act of terrorism until information should arrive to the contrary,'' FBI Special Agent Woody Johnson said.

As in Munich, when the Olympics continued uninterrupted even after terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes, officials in Atlanta said they would not halt the games today.

``The games will go on,'' said Francois Carrad, director general of the International Olympic Committee.

The bomb went off at about 1:25 a.m. as thousands of revelers were celebrating at an open-air, free concert. That was about an hour after the end of the Dream Team's game at the nearby Georgia Dome.

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

``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 bomb detonated after authorities began evacuating an area of the park where a police officer had noticed a suspicious package, Johnson said.

``Before they were able to clear people form the area, the device went off,'' he said.

The FBI told CNN that two other bombs were found in the park after the bomb exploded.

Johnson said two people were killed. R. Green, of the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office, said he was told by the bomb squad that four people had been killed.

Hospitals said they were treating more than 200 people, including some who appeared to have been hit by shrapnel. A doctor said he saw a lot of fractures and one person with a finger blown off.

President Clinton, who has been in Atlanta twice during the Olympics, was awakened and told of the blast, White House spokesman David Johnson said.

At the time of the blast, the band Jack Mack and the Heart Attack was playing on the park's main stage.

``The security guard found a knapsack or nylon bag and didn't like the way it looked,'' said Mark Smith, who was mixing the music for the concert in a light and sound tower where the guard was stationed. ``The police started clearing the area. I was 50 feet away and there was a policeman about 30 feet away from it.

``I saw the cop right in front of me take a huge piece of shrapnel. He got hit bad. One guy threw a towel on his head. I poured water on him to wash away some of the blood. He was lying face down and he wasn't moving. I saw 10 pockets of people hit by what appears to be shrapnel.''

The park is in the center of downtown Atlanta, within walking distance of three major Olympic venues. While people pass through metal detectors at all Olympic venues, anyone is free to walk through the park.

After the explosion police swept the area with bomb-sniffing dogs and blocked off all streets around the park, as dozens of ambulances, fire trucks and police cars lined up to care for the injured and keep out everyone else.

At least 10 athletes from Cuba and Argentina stood a few feet away from the blast, said Sheryl Fillmore, a friend of a Cuban judo competitor.

No American athletes were injured in the attack, U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Moran said. Most have been living in the athletes village about a mile from the bombing, though the Dream Team basketball players were staying in a hotel just a block from Centennial Park.

``Our athletes in the village and elsewhere are planning to go forward in the competitions, yes,'' Moran said. ``Obviously, there's been a heightened security activity, especially in the athletes in village.

``The athletes in the village all were up and watching on television at one time or another. Word spread fairly quickly.''

The blast was accompanied by sparks and smoke, and ``the concussion was bigger than the bang,'' Smith said.

Another witness, Snenetricus Warford of Memphis, Tenn., said the explosion appeared to come from a garbage can. ``I looked up, there was fire and smoke going up. People were there. It blew them over.''

The explosion rocked buildings more than a quarter-mile away, shattered windows in the immediate vicinity and could be heard throughout the downtown area, where tens of thousands of people have gathered every night since the Olympic Games began July 19.

Police officer Ron Otero, who was patrolling in the park, said he was about 50 yards away when the blast hit.

``I saw lots of smoke and heard a big explosion, very big - it was like a shock wave hit us,'' Otero said. ``The next thing you saw was people on the ground.''

The sound tower near the park's main concert stage was still standing after the blast, but debris littered its base.

Police cordoned off the area for several blocks around where the explosion occurred, forming lines by interlocking arms and driving back tourists and journalists. They said the security net was to protect bystanders from further explosions.

Centennial Olympic Park opened just a week before the Olympics began, built on an area formerly occupied by vacant and decrepit buildings. The 21-acre park has sponsor buildings, concert stages and exhibits.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1) Victims are loaded into an ambulance after abomb exploded early this morning at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.

(2) Emergency personnel assist the wounded at the scene of an explosion that rocked Centennial Olympic Park, injuring dozens and killing one.

(3) Shelly Martin of Spokane, Wash., left, and Roselia Norwood of Hawaii absorb the shock of this morning's explosion in Atlanta.

Associated Press