During an emotional day of testimony, survivors of the 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Tanzania described the powerful explosion and its aftermath in the first civilian trial of a Guantanamo detainee.

Defendant Ahmed Ghailani faces 286 counts including murder and use of a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors say Ghailani was a member of an Al Qaeda cell and that he helped buy the components that converted a two and half ton truck into a deadly bomb detonated at the US Embassy compound in Dar Es Saalam.

An embassy guard at the time of the blast, Edward Mathew Rutaheshelwa described how he escaped with his life because he was on a tea break when the explosion took place. The guard who temporarily took over his shift at a security post was killed in the explosion. Wiping away tears Rutaheshelwa told jurors that he also saw body parts of other victims. Speaking in Swahili he described finding the left hand of another guard killed in the attack, saying he was able to identify the victim because   “he saw a ring” on one of the fingers.

Jurors also heard testimony from a US Marine on duty the morning of the terror attack. Staff Sgt. Brian Johnson said he was “knocked of my feet” by the force of the blast. He recalled “flying through the air” as if he were in “slow motion” adding it was “probably less than a second” before he landed.

So far none of the witnesses have addressed Ghailani’s alleged role in the terror attacks. During opening statements the prosecution said jurors will hear testimony from a man who sold Ghailani acetylene gas tanks used to make the bomb.

Defense attorneys will try and convince the jury that Ghailani was “duped” into helping Al Qaeda operatives prepare for the attack, but that he had no idea what was being planned.

The trial is expected to go into next year. The first full day of testimony began with two alternate jurors asking to be excused because of conflicts with work. The requests were denied.