Afzal Guru 'justified' Parliament attack in letter written four years ago

SRINAGAR: Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru had in a letter, purportedly written by him over four years ago, said that there was no need to be ashamed of the December 13 attack on Parliament, but had stopped short of owning any responsibility for it.

In the letter written to editor of a local Urdu weekly, Guru, who was hanged in Delhi's Tihar jail on February 9, asked Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin not to be "ashamed of December 13" and stop terming the attack as a "conspiracy".

Editor of the Urdu weekly Shabnum Qayoom said that he had been receiving Guru's letters and articles and is sure that this letter was written by him.

"I used to receive his (Guru's) letters and articles, so this was nothing new. The handwriting is the same as the previous letters and articles. I do not care if people believe it to be authentic or not," he said.

Asked why he did not publish the letter for four years, he said he did not deem it appropriate.

"I believe he was swept by emotions. He was not involved but he thought that as there was no way for escape, why not accept and achieve martyrdom. I did not think it was appropriate to publish the letter that time as it would have been taken as an evidence against him, but now that he is no more, I went ahead with it," he said.

Guru had said in the letter, "I request Salahuddin to not call the attack of December 13 as a conspiracy. It pains my heart. The attacks are related to Kashmir issue. If the attack was a conspiracy, then the whole struggle is a conspiracy. We should not be ashamed of December 13".

He said as long as the Kashmir issue is kept unresolved, India and its rulers will have "temporary peace".

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Sharks Warn Off Predators By Wielding Light Sabers

Diminutive deep-sea sharks illuminate spines on their backs like light sabers to warn potential predators that they could get a sharp mouthful, a new study suggests.

Paradoxically, the sharks seem to produce light both to hide and to be conspicuous—a first in the world of glowing sharks. (See photos of other sea creatures that glow.)

"Three years ago we showed that velvet belly lanternsharks [(Etmopterus spinax)] are using counter-illumination," said lead study author Julien Claes, a biologist from Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain, by email.

In counter-illumination, the lanternsharks, like many deep-sea animals, light up their undersides in order to disguise their silhouette when seen from below. Brighter bellies blend in with the light filtering down from the surface. (Related: "Glowing Pygmy Shark Lights Up to Fade Away.")

Fishing the 2-foot-long (60-centimeter-long) lanternsharks up from Norwegian fjords and placing them in darkened aquarium tanks, the researchers noticed that not only do the sharks' bellies glow, but they also had glowing regions on their backs.

The sharks have two rows of light-emitting cells, called photophores, on either side of a fearsome spine on the front edges of their two dorsal fins.

Study co-author Jérôme Mallefet explained how handling the sharks and encountering their aggressive behavior hinted at the role these radiant spines play.

"Sometimes they flip around and try to hit you with their spines," said Mallefet, also from Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain. "So we thought maybe they are showing their weapon in the dark depths."

To investigate this idea, the authors analyzed the structure of the lanternshark spines and found that they were more translucent than other shark spines.

This allowed the spines to transmit around 10 percent of the light from the glowing photophores, the study said.

For Predators' Eyes Only

Based on the eyesight of various deep-sea animals, the researchers estimated that the sharks' glowing spines were visible from several meters away to predators that include harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), and blackmouth catsharks (Galeus melastomus).

"The spine-associated bioluminescence has all the characteristics to play the right role as a warning sign," said Mallefet.

"It's a magnificent way to say 'hello, here I am, but beware I have spines,'" he added.

But these luminous warning signals wouldn't impede the sharks' pursuit of their favorite prey, Mueller's bristle-mouth fish (Maurolicus muelleri), the study suggested. These fish have poorer vision than the sharks' predators and may only spot the sharks' dorsal illuminations at much closer range.

For now, it remains a mystery how the sharks create and control the lights on their backs. The glowing dorsal fins could respond to the same hormones that control the belly lights, suggested Mallefet, but other factors may also be involved.

"MacGyver" of Bioluminescence

Several other species use bioluminescence as a warning signal, including marine snails (Hinea brasiliana), glowworms (Lampyris noctiluca) and millipedes (Motyxia spp.).

Edith Widder, a marinebiologist from the Ocean Research and Conservation Association who was not involved in the current study, previously discovered a jellyfish whose bioluminescence rubs off on attackers that get too close.

"It's like paint packages in money bags at banks," she explained.

"Any animal that was foolish enough to go after it," she added "gets smeared all over with glowing particles that make it easy prey for its predators."

Widder also points out that glowing deep-sea animals often put their abilities to diverse uses. (Watch: "Why Deep-Sea Creatures Glow.")

"There are many examples of animals using bioluminescence for a whole range of different functions," she said.

Mallefet agrees, joking that these sharks are the "MacGyver of bioluminescence."

"Just give light to this shark species and it will use it in any possible way."

And while Widder doesn't discount the warning signal theory, "another possibility would be that it could be to attract a mate."

Lead author Julien Claes added by email, "I also discovered during my PhD thesis that velvet belly lanternsharks have glowing organs on their sexual parts."

And that, he admits, "makes it very easy, even for a human, to distinguish male and female of this species in the dark!"

The glowing shark study appeared online in the February 21 edition of Scientific Reports.

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'93 WTC Bombing Crushed Lives, Not Memories

Edward Smith remembers vividly the call from the morgue 20 years ago today, that his pregnant wife had died in the World Trade Center bombing hours before she was supposed to start her maternity leave.

"It seems like kind of yesterday sometimes," he told ABC News, "but it seems like a long time ago, too."

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the 1993 WTC bombing, which was overshadowed eight years later by the 9/11 attacks. Six people died and about 1,000 were injured after terrorists detonated a truck bomb in the parking garage of the World Trade Center's North Tower Feb. 26, 1993.

Four of the six killed -- Robert Kirkpatrick, 61, Stephen A. Knapp, 47, William Macko, 57, and Monica Rodriguez Smith, 35 -- were employees of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owned the buildings. John DiGiovanni, 45, a dental-supply salesman visiting the World Trade Center, and Wilfredo Mercado, 37, a purchasing agent for Windows on the World restaurant, also died.

To commemorate the event, ABC News spoke with several people affected by the bombing -- a widower, a former Port Authority executive director, a plaintiff's attorney and a jury foreman -- to illustrate how the bombing resonates 20 years later.

EDWARD SMITH: Husband of pregnant Monica Rodriguez Smith, who died in the bombing.

Edward and Monica Rodriguez Smith on their wedding day, Aug. 31, 1990.

September 11: World Trade Center Time Lapse Watch Video

Edward Smith, 50, remembers where he was Feb. 26, 1993, when he heard the news.

"I was up in Boston, and I had heard there was a fire at the [World] Trade Center," Smith told ABCNews.com last week. "I turned the TV on, and eventually heard there was an actual bombing, and drove down as quickly as I could."

Smith said he couldn't reach his wife, Monica Rodriguez Smith, a secretary for a mechanical supervisor for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey who worked in the World Trade Center, for "hours and hours."

He said he didn't hear from her or anything about her until he contacted the New York City morgue at 11:30 p.m. that evening.

"Obviously, I was informed that I should come there," Smith said.

He and his wife had been married for a little more than three years, he said, and Feb. 26 was to be Monica's last day of work before she went on maternity leave. They were expecting their first child, a boy, to be named Eddie.

"She had worked at the Port Authority for at least 12 years," Smith said. "And she had just gotten an award for never having a sick day. That was a little thing you remember."

Smith said the World Trade Center was where he met his wife the first time.

"I was a sales guy, selling to the Port Authority, and she was the admin [secretary] for one of the guys," he said. "For the first two years, she wouldn't go out with me.

"She said, 'Do you know how many knuckleheads come in here and ask me out? What makes you different?'" Smith recalled Monica's saying.

It took her two years to go out on a date with him, Smith said.

The couple tied the knot Aug. 31, 1990. Smith said he even bought the house in which he grew up on Long Island to raise their family.

But after the events of Feb. 26, 1993, Smith said, it was hard to stay in New York. Shortly after the bombing, he moved to Arizona and later to California.

"There were too many reminders, it was too much," he said.

Smith now resides in Phoenix, but makes a trip to New York every year for the memorial in February.
This year is no exception.

"It's kind of an interesting feeling," he said of the 20-year anniversary. "It seems like kind of yesterday sometimes, but it seems like a long time ago, too."

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Football: Cahill bemoans Chelsea fixture pile-up

LONDON: Chelsea centre-back Gary Cahill thinks the club's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League are being hindered by what he describes as "ridiculous" fixture congestion.

The European champions lost 2-0 at Manchester City on Sunday to give hope to the teams bidding to pip them to a top-four berth.

Tottenham Hotspur could climb above Chelsea into third place with victory at West Ham United later on Monday, while beleaguered Arsenal are just two points behind Rafael Benitez's side in fifth place.

Sunday's game was Chelsea's 46th this season -- more than Arsenal (41), Tottenham and Manchester City (both 38), and sixth-placed Everton (32).

The Blues' calendar has been swelled by December's trip to Japan for the Club World Cup, while they also remain in contention in both the FA Cup and the Europa League.

It may mean more matches for Chelsea's fans to take in, but Cahill said it is having a harmful impact on the squad.

"Unfortunately, it does take its toll," he told Chelsea TV.

"I think if you look back at the start of the season with the spark and the zip we had -- I think sometimes a little bit of fatigue plays its part.

"We haven't had a clear week for about 29 weeks and you're expecting to go into games feeling 100 percent fresh, trying to push on further in all competitions.

"I think at this stage of the season, it's not an excuse, but fatigue has to play a part. They (Manchester City) had a clear week and we've had a ridiculous amount of games."

There is little respite on Chelsea's horizon, with Wednesday's FA Cup tie at Middlesbrough followed by a league game with West Bromwich Albion and the away leg of their Europa League last-16 tie with Romanians Steaua Bucharest.

"It's something that we have got to deal with," Cahill said.

"We've got the two cups and obviously trying to get the Champions League spot. That's our aim from now until the end of the season. That's our focus. We have to go again. We are still in that position.

"All three are in our own hands so we need to keep going and plug away and make sure we achieve the goals we want to achieve."

Cahill believes the fatigue in the squad was evident in their porous defensive performance at City.

"I had way too much (to do)," he said.

"Normally at a big club, in a game you probably get asked to do three or four important things in a game. (Against City) we probably had 20 or 25.

"Unfortunately, if you keep getting asked the question, ultimately there's going to be a goal."

- AFP/fa

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Chopper scam: CBI names ex-IAF chief SP Tyagi as suspect

NEW DELHI: Armed with documents from Italy, CBI today named former Air Force Chief S P Tyagi in its preliminary enquiry (PE) into allegations of kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, the second former defence services chief to figure in a scam probe.

Besides the former IAF chief, 10 others including his cousins — Julie, Docsa and Sandeep Tyagi have also been named along with four companies in the PE, CBI sources said here.

CBI has registered the PE to probe allegations that some "middlemen have influenced the deal in favour" of the Italian company AgustaWestland for the supply of 12 AW-101 VVIP/VIP helicopters.

It is also learnt that parent company Finmeccanica paid a commission of seven million Euros (about Rs 50 crore) to the middlemen out of which huge sums were transferred to seven Indian nationals through Tunisia and Mauritius, the PE said.

The money was sent in the garb of engineering contracts with two Indian companies — IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix, it said.

This is the second instance when a former services chief figures in a CBI inquiry. Former Admiral Sushil Kumar was named in a CBI case to probe alleged kickbacks in the purchase of Barak missiles in early 2000.

The sources said suspected European middlemen Carlo Gerosa, Christian Michel and Guido Haschkhe, advocate Gautam Khaitan formerly associated with Aeromatrix and its CEO Praveen Bakshi, former Finmeccanica chairman Giuseppe Orsi, former AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini have also been named.

Besides Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland, IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix also figure in the PE, they said.

The team of CBI officials, which returned from Italy with some documents from Finmeccanica and public prosecutor, found enough material in them to start its probe in the alleged payoffs of Rs 362 crore in the helicopter deal, they said.

All the suspects named by the CBI in its PE have denied allegations of receiving or giving kickbacks in the deal.

The sources said the they are likely to be called for questioning in connection with the case.

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Picture Archive: Dorothy Lamour and Jiggs, Circa 1938

Dorothy Lamour, most famous for her Road to ... series of movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, never won an Oscar. In her 50-plus-year career as an actress, she never even got nominated.

Neither did Jiggs the chimpanzee, pictured here with Lamour on the set of Her Jungle Love in a photo published in the 1938 National Geographic story "Monkey Folk."

No animal has ever been nominated for an Oscar. According to Academy Award rules, only actors and actresses are eligible.

Uggie, the Jack Russell terrier from last year's best picture winner, The Artist, didn't rate a nod. The equines that portrayed Seabiscuit and War Horse, movies that were best picture contenders in their respective years, were also snubbed.

Even the seven piglets that played Babe, the eponymous star of the best picture nominee in 1998, didn't rate. And the outlook seems to be worsening for the animal kingdom's odds of ever getting its paws on that golden statuette.

This year, two movies nominated in the best picture category had creatures that were storyline drivers with significant on-screen time. Neither Beasts of the Southern Wild (which featured extinct aurochs) or Life of Pi (which featured a CGI Bengal tiger named Richard Parker) used real animals.

An Oscar's not the only way for animals to get ahead, though. Two years after this photo was published, the American Humane Association's Los Angeles Film & TV Unit was established to monitor and protect animals working on show business sets. The group's creation was spurred by the death of a horse during the filming of 1939's Jessie James.

Today, it's still the only organization that stamps "No Animals Were Harmed" onto a movie's closing credits.

Editor's note: This is part of a series of pieces that looks at the news through the lens of the National Geographic photo archives.

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Football: Man City leave Chelsea trailing, Newcastle edge Saints

LONDON: Manchester City galvanised their grip on second place in the Premier League and trimmed Manchester United's lead back to 12 points with a 2-0 victory at home to nearest rivals Chelsea on Sunday.

After Chelsea's Frank Lampard had seen a penalty saved by England colleague Joe Hart, City prevailed through a pair of fine second-half goals from man-of-the-match Yaya Toure and substitute Carlos Tevez.

Although City's chances of retaining their league title remain decidedly slender, they now have a seven-point advantage over Chelsea, who could slip to fourth if Tottenham Hotspur overcome West Ham United on Monday.

Both City manager Roberto Mancini and his Chelsea counterpart Rafael Benitez flooded their sides with midfielders at the Etihad Stadium, while Benitez opted to leave John Terry and Fernando Torres on the bench.

City deployed Sergio Aguero as a lone striker and although he had to plough a lone furrow, it was the hosts who dominated the first half.

Visiting goalkeeper Petr Cech had to tip a header from Matija Nastasic over the bar, while Gary Cahill did well to block a goal-bound volley from Pablo Zabaleta.

City handed a rare start to Jack Rodwell and the midfielder threatened twice shortly before half-time, extending Cech with first a 25-yard drive and then a header from the resulting corner.

Chelsea were gifted an opportunity to open the scoring early in the second half when Hart was adjudged to have fouled Demba Ba, but the England goalkeeper redeemed himself with an excellent save from Lampard's spot-kick.

Aguero dinked a shot onto the roof of the net before City's enterprise finally told in the 63rd minute.

Toure collected a pass from David Silva and deftly evaded the attentions of four visiting defenders before shaping a shot around Cech that nestled in the bottom-right corner.

Tevez settled the encounter in style in the 85th minute, collecting the ball 22 yards from goal and arrowing a shot into the top-left corner.

In the day's other game, Newcastle edged relegation rivals Southampton 4-2 in a topsy-turvy game at St James' Park that took Alan Pardew's side six points clear of the bottom three.

In honour of their growing French contingent, Newcastle had dubbed the day 'French Day', handing out berets to their supporters and playing the French national anthem prior to kick-off.

However, it was a Frenchman in a red shirt who broke the deadlock, as midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin converted a Rickie Lambert knockdown to give Southampton a third-minute lead.

Newcastle's reaction was swift and in the 32nd minute they went ahead thanks to two French players of their own.

Yoan Gouffran forced a save from Artur Boruc after darting into the box from the left and when the ball ran across goal, Moussa Sissoko sped in to touch it over the line.

The hosts' momentum did not abate and in the 42nd minute they went ahead with a stunning goal, as Papiss Cisse cracked home a looping half-volley from 25 yards.

Newcastle lost captain Fabricio Coloccini to injury just before half-time and saw Southampton equalise five minutes into the second half when Lambert swept home a low cross from Adam Lallana.

However, Newcastle hit back once again and took the lead for the second time in the game when Yohan Cabaye converted a 67th-minute penalty awarded for a handball by Danny Fox.

The suspense in a stretched game finally dissipated in the 79th minute, when an own goal by Jos Hooiveld put Newcastle 4-2 ahead and confirmed the hosts' success.

- AFP/fa

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Hyderabad blasts: Cops get 'clear clues', question 30 people

HYDERABAD: Investigators are believed to have obtained certain "clear clues" based on CCTV footage at the site of the twin blasts in Hyderabad and questioning of some jailed terror suspects here even as a letter purportedly written by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) claimed responsibility.

Sources said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while being briefed by state DGP V Dinesh Reddy here about the progress in the investigations so far was told certain "clear clues" were obtained based on footage of the CCTV cameras at the scene and also questioning of some terror suspects lodged in jails here.

According to the sources, the video footage obtained from the site of blasts showed that three people were found moving suspiciously near bicycles strapped with explosives, just minutes before the explosions. Help of experts were being taken to enhance the footage for clarity.

"We are working in close coordination with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and are hopeful of cracking the case soon," the DGP was said to have told the Prime Minister.

'Lashkar letter'

As multi-probe teams including from NIA analysed the footage and sought details of cycles bought locally, BJP's Andhra Pradesh unit president G Kishan Reddy said he received a threat letter purportedly written by Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT in which it claimed responsibility for the Dilsukhnagar bomb blast on Thursday night.

Police have questioned nearly 30 people in connection with the explosions but yet to make any arrest. 16 people were killed and over 100 injured when two bombs placed on bicycles went off within minutes of each other in which the handiwork of banned militant outfit Indian Mujahideen, which has links with LeT, is being increasingly suspected.

Reddy told reporters he received a letter by post yesterday written in Urdu and English languages.

However, he refused to give a copy of the letter saying he has handed it over to Abids police station. In the letter, the LeT purportedly stated that their next target is Begaumbazar, Reddy claimed. Begumbazar is another crowded wholesale market in the city.

When contacted, Abids police said "we have received a letter from Kishan Reddy today and it is being verified."

Somali, Hyderabadi questioned in Bihar

In a related development, 30-year-old Somalian national Abdullah Umran Makran and a Hyderabad youth Mohammad Adam arrested in Motihari in Bihar on Saturday while trying to sneak into Nepal were subjected to questioning by security agencies on Sunday in the eastern state connection with the blasts.

The Hyderabad police said Adam obtained his driving licence allegedly on fake residential address and they are verifying his antecedents.

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Elderly Abandoned at World's Largest Religious Festival

Every 12 years, the northern Indian city of Allahabad plays host to a vast gathering of Hindu pilgrims called the Maha Kumbh Mela. This year, Allahabad is expected to host an estimated 80 million pilgrims between January and March. (See Kumbh Mela: Pictures From the Hindu Holy Festival)

People come to Allahabad to wash away their sins in the sacred River Ganges. For many it's the realization of their life's goal, and they emerge feeling joyful and rejuvenated. But there is also a darker side to the world's largest religious gathering, as some take advantage of the swirling crowds to abandon elderly relatives.

"They wait for this Maha Kumbh because many people are there so nobody will know," said one human rights activist who has helped people in this predicament and who wished to remain anonymous. "Old people have become useless, they don't want to look after them, so they leave them and go."

Anshu Malviya, an Allahabad-based social worker, confirmed that both men and women have been abandoned during the religious event, though it has happened more often to elderly widows. Numbers are hard to come by, since many people genuinely become separated from their groups in the crowd, and those who have been abandoned may not admit it. But Malviya estimates that dozens of people are deliberately abandoned during a Maha Kumbh Mela, at a very rough guess.

To a foreigner, it seems puzzling that these people are not capable of finding their own way home. Malviya smiles. "If you were Indian," he said, "you wouldn't be puzzled. Often they have never left their homes. They are not educated, they don't work. A lot of the time they don't even know which district their village is in."

Once the crowd disperses and the volunteer-run lost-and-found camps that provide temporary respite have packed away their tents, the abandoned elderly may have the option of entering a government-run shelter. Conditions are notoriously bad in these homes, however, and many prefer to remain on the streets, begging. Some gravitate to other holy cities such as Varanasi or Vrindavan where, if they're lucky, they are taken in by temples or charity-funded shelters.

In these cities, they join a much larger population, predominantly women, whose families no longer wish to support them, and who have been brought there because, in the Hindu religion, to die in these holy cities is to achieve moksha or Nirvana. Mohini Giri, a Delhi-based campaigner for women's rights and former chair of India's National Commission for Women, estimates that there are 10,000 such women in Varanasi and 16,000 in Vrindavan.

But even these women are just the tip of the iceberg, says economist Jean Drèze of the University of Allahabad, who has campaigned on social issues in India since 1979. "For one woman who has been explicitly parked in Vrindavan or Varanasi, there are a thousand or ten thousand who are living next door to their sons and are as good as abandoned, literally kept on a starvation diet," he said.

According to the Hindu ideal, a woman should be looked after until the end of her life by her male relatives—with responsibility for her shifting from her father to her husband to her son. But Martha Chen, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard University who published a study of widows in India in 2001, found that the reality was often very different.

Chen's survey of 562 widows of different ages revealed that about half of them were supporting themselves in households that did not include an adult male—either living alone, or with young children or other single women. Many of those who did live with their families reported harassment or even violence.

According to Drèze, the situation hasn't changed since Chen's study, despite the economic growth that has taken place in India, because widows remain vulnerable due to their lack of education and employment. In 2010, the World Bank reported that only 29 percent of the Indian workforce was female. Moreover, despite changes in the law designed to protect women's rights to property, in practice sons predominantly inherit from their parents—leaving women eternally dependent on men. In a country where 37 percent of the population still lives below the poverty line, elderly dependent relatives fall low on many people's lists of priorities.

This bleak picture is all too familiar to Devshran Singh, who oversees the Durga Kund old people's home in Varanasi. People don't pay toward the upkeep of their relatives, he said, and they rarely visit. In one case, a doctor brought an old woman to Durga Kund claiming she had been abandoned. After he had gone, the woman revealed that the doctor was her son. "In modern life," said Singh, "people don't have time for their elderly."

Drèze is currently campaigning for pensions for the elderly, including widows. Giri is working to make more women aware of their rights. And most experts agree that education, which is increasingly accessible to girls in India, will help improve women's plight. "Education is a big force of social change," said Drèze. "There's no doubt about that."

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Crash at Daytona Exposes Risks to Fans

The risks of racing extend beyond the drivers.

Fans can wind up in the danger zone, too.

A horrifying crash on the last lap of a race at Daytona International Speedway injured at least 30 fans Saturday and provided another stark reminder of what can happen when a car going nearly 200 mph is suddenly launched toward the spectator areas.

The victims were sprayed with large chunks of debris — including a tire — after rookie Kyle Larson's machine careened into the fencing that is designed to protect the massive grandstands lining NASCAR's most famous track.

"I love the sport," said Shannan Devine, who witnessed the carnage from her 19th-row seat, about 250 feet away. "But no one wants to get hurt over it."

The fencing served its primary purpose, catapulting what was left of Larson's car back onto the track. But it didn't keep potentially lethal shards from flying into the stands.

"There was absolute shock," Devine said. "People were saying, 'I can't believe it, I can't believe it. I've never seen this happen, I've never seen this happen. Did the car through the fence?' It was just shock and awe. Grown men were reaching out and grabbing someone, saying, 'Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!' It was just disbelief, absolute disbelief."

From Daytona to Le Mans to a rural road in Ireland, auto racing spectators have long been too close to the action when parts start flying. The crash in the second-tier Nationwide race follows a long list of accidents that have left fans dead or injured.

The most tragic incident occurred during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, when two cars collided near the main stands. The wreck sent debris hurtling into the crowd, while one of the cars flipped upside down and exploded in a giant fireball.

Eighty-three spectators and driver Pierre Levegh were killed, and 120 fans were injured.

The Daytona crash began as the field approached the checkered flag and leader Regan Smith attempted to block Brad Keselowski. That triggered a chain reaction, and rookie Kyle Larson hit the cars in front of him and went airborne into the fence.

The entire front end was sheared off Larson's car, and his burning engine wedged through a gaping hole in the fence. Chunks of debris from the car were thrown into the stands, including a tire that cleared the top of the fence and landed midway up the spectator section closest to the track.

"I thought the car went through the fence," Devine said. "I didn't know if there was a car on top of people. I didn't know what to think. I'm an emotional person. I immediately started to cry. It was very scary, absolutely scary. I love the speed of the sport. But it's so dangerous."

The fencing used to protect seating areas and prevent cars from hurtling out of tracks has long been part of the debate over how to improve safety.

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti lost close friend Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas in the 2011 IndyCar season finale, when Wheldon's car catapulted into the fencing and his head struck a support post. Since his death, IndyCar drivers have called for studies on how to improve the safety barriers.

Franchitti renewed the pleas on Twitter after the Daytona crash, writing "it's time (at)Indycar (at)nascar other sanctioning bodies & promoters work on an alternative to catch fencing. There has to be a better solution."

Another fan who witnessed the crash said he's long worried that sizable gaps in the fencing increase the chances of debris getting through to the stands.

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