31 Years Ago, 6 Children Were Miraculously Rescued from a Daycare Center After the Oklahoma City Bombing Killed 168 People

NEED TO KNOW

• On April 19, 1995, the Oklahoma City bombing shattered the heart of Oklahoma City at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building

• Among the survivors were six children from America’s Kids Daycare inside the building

• Timothy McVeigh was later executed and accomplice Terry Nichols was sentenced to several life sentences for the attack

Thirty-one years ago, on April 19, 1995, the Oklahoma City bombing shattered the heart of Oklahoma City with the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

In a matter of seconds, lives were changed forever. Among the survivors were six children from America’s Kids Daycare inside the building. Timothy McVeigh was later executed for the bombing, and accomplice Terry Nichols was sentenced to multiple life terms.

The attack claimed 168 lives, including 19 children, and left a lasting scar on families, first responders and an entire nation that still grapples with the tragedy decades later.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

A nighttime view of the devastated Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, showing the effects of the truck bombing. (
Credit: Ralf-Finn Hestoft/Corbis via Getty

On the morning of April 19, 1995, the Oklahoma City bombing unfolded when a rented Ryder truck packed with explosives was detonated outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast occurred at 9:02 a.m., shearing off the building’s entire north face and collapsing floors within seconds. The explosion killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured hundreds more, making it the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history at the time.

The attack was carried out by Timothy McVeigh, a former U.S. Army soldier who harbored deep anti-government views. He was aided by accomplice Terry Nichols, who helped plan and prepare the bombing materials. Authorities later determined that the attack was timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the Waco siege, an event that fueled McVeigh’s extremist beliefs.

In the immediate aftermath, first responders and volunteers rushed to the scene, pulling survivors from the rubble in a desperate rescue effort that lasted for days. McVeigh was arrested just 90 minutes after the bombing during a routine traffic stop for driving without a license plate. Within days, investigators connected him to the attack through evidence including the truck rental and forensic materials.

McVeigh was convicted in 1997 on multiple federal charges and was executed by lethal injection in 2001.

For survivors, the legacy of that day has continued to shape their lives in ways both visible and unseen.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Aftermath of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Credit: Greg Smith/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty

Featured On: https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf

Speaking to PEOPLE in 2015, survivor Joe Webber — just 20 months old at the time of the bombing — reflected on being one of only six children from America’s Kids Daycare inside the building to survive the bombing.

“It’s a blessing, I think, and a hindrance not remembering something like that happening. Because while you don’t have any reminders of the horrors, you can’t really place yourself in it,” Webber, then a junior studying zoology at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, told PEOPLE on the 20th anniversary.

He added: “When I think about it, I get the overwhelming sense of how I’m connected to those people who were in the building, and by extension to everyone in the city and the nation.”

Read the original article on People